|
|
Don't TEXT and Drive
|
MAGIC RAIN L.S.S., Inc.
Post Office Box 364, Hinckley, OH 44233
(Serving Cuyahoga, Medina, Lorain & Summit Cos.)
Phone: 330-220-RAIN (7246) and 330-220-9246
email: sandra@magicrain.com
|
|
|
|
-
Don't TEXT and drive; Vote YES
-
House Bill 425 was originally introduced by Reps. Diana M. Fessler (R-Bethel Township) and Michael DeBose (D-Cleveland). The bill had an original proposal to include the institution of a $250 fine for dialing and driving and hand out six-month suspensions to drivers who get into wrecks while talking or texting.
Back in January 2008, Infrastructure, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs committee chair Rep. Steve Reinhard (R-Bucyrus) indicated that the committee stage of the bill could last several months. It has.
Please note, however, that House Bill 425 has been most recently transformed into TEXT MESSAGING ONLY.
REVISED HOUSE BILL 425
To amend section 4510.01 and to enact section 4511.204 of the Revised Code to prohibit driving a vehicle while text messaging or typing on a mobile communication device and to establish the violation as a secondary traffic offense.
Representatives John Domenick (D-Smithfield), Joseph Koziura (D-Lorain), Edna Brown (D-Toledo), Sandra Stabile Harwood (D-Niles), Brian G. Williams (D-Akron), Barbara Boyd (D-Cleveland Hts.) have also joined in this bipartisan treaty with their support.
As well, on July 1, 2008 California joined New York , Connecticut, Washington, New Jersey and the District of Columbia in prohibiting driving and talking on handheld phones. Using your headsets or speaker phone is OK.
Critics are having a fine time accusing government of being a busybody and an ineffective one to boot. They point to some strange things.
For instance, it's not illegal to write and read text messages (unless you're under 18), and you're still allowed to punch the buttons to call somebody. Just don't touch the phone and then talk holding the phone.
Isn't it more dangerous, some ask, to be typing than talking? And what about those people who try to eat chili dogs and drive, or the parents who turn around to yell at their kids in the back seat? Aren't those distractions dangerous, too?
The answer is OMG yes. But just because we, as a society, haven't figured out how to discourage all bad things doesn't mean we shouldn't eliminate some known hazards.
Everyone who owns a cell phone and who drives probably has talked and driven. If you do it frequently, you've undoubtedly dodged a collision, or two or three, because your mind was somewhere else.
Not a week goes by that there isn't a news report from some place about a wreck involving a cell phone.
Legislation has been proposed in Ohio to ban cell phone use by drivers, but it's gone nowhere. House Bill 425 would impose a $250 fine for a violation, and allow drivers to be punished with six-month suspensions if they're involved in a wreck while texting. The sponsor, Rep. Michael DeBose, a Cleveland Democrat, hasn't been overwhelmed by support from fellow lawmakers until recently when the bill was transformed into TEXT MESSAGING only.
As many as 20 states are doing what Ohio is — thinking about, but not necessarily acting, on a prohibition.
If there were a law banning talking on the phone and driving, it would certainly affect some people's behavior. (California estimates 300 lives will be saved there annually.) But cell phones are so ubiquitous and so seemingly indispensable for people committed to multitasking that many, many would will still take their chances with a fine.
Some research shows that holding the phone is not itself the biggest problem, that talking is what most distracts people from their driving. But most drivers aren't just talking. First, they have to find the phone, then they have to flip it open, then they find themselves placing a call or trying to find a contact, or somebody texts them, and it just seems so important to get that message now.
Maybe our brains will ultimately be rewired and we'll know how to do more and more things all at once without hurting ourselves or someone else. But, today — law or not — mixing cars and cell phones can be harmful, even leathal.
We invite your comments. Please tell us what YOUR thoughts are.
Sandra Lea
07/29/2008
| | | |
|
|
|
