Don’t get mad, get even. Better yet, get legislation.
Super model Niki Taylor’s April 29 car crash caused by riding with a distracted driver has once again put talking on the phone while driving in the national spotlight. And everyone, it seems, is pushing for tough laws to sharply curtail or eliminate the use of cell phones while driving.
The efforts and passion are understandable. The death or injury of a loved one at the hands of someone distracted by talking on, reaching for or dialing a cell phone seems unbelievably senseless. And some studies suggest that car crashes involving people using cell phones rivals drunken driving stats. That should be enough to make people pay attention and come up with some solutions.
But do we always have to turn to legislation? We have so many laws already, many of which the majority of us don’t even know about. And many of which are difficult and very expensive, if not impossible, to enforce.
A handful of states have laws on the matter and more than 40 states proposed legislation this year to either stop or limit cell phone use during driving. In Washington, two bills were proposed this year. One proposed a fine on drivers whose cell phones led to a crash. The other wanted to ban the use of hand-held cell phones entirely (except for emergencies). As fellow legislators argued, it’s already a crime to drive negligently and inappropriate cell phone use falls under that category. The debate over cell phone use while driving might be the opportunity we need to explore other means of finding real answers.
We could start by lobbying the cell phone industry instead of government. Obviously many issues need legislation, but it’s not the solution for everything, especially when the legislative process needlessly pits the public against industry. Capitalism may get a bad rap and sometimes deservedly so, but the public must remember is plays an important role in this private economic system. And the cell phone industry appears to be listening already. Verizon Wireless has already acknowledged that driving and talking on the phone can be a distraction. And many companies are developing products such as hands-free devices to meet customers’ needs.
The cell phone industry must step up and do even more. It must develop aggressive campaigns to educate the public about driving and talking on the phone while simultaneously committing itself to the research and development of affordable and safe products. Some are already debating the viability of hands-free cell phones or phones that are mounted in the car.
The industry should lead the way in honest research or risk becoming the Big Tobacco of the highways.
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