Friends don't let friends drive and SMS
Submitted by Andrew Hiransomboon on August 18, 2008 - 3:34pm.
What?
In New York, there's a proposal to make it illegal to use SMS while you're driving. (Read the full New York Times article: Ban on text messaging.)
Why?
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+ A crash last summer in the Finger Lakes region of New York State in which five teenage girls riding in a sport utility vehicle died. A police investigation revealed that the driver’s cellphone was being used to send text messages at the time of the accident, in which her car swerved into oncoming traffic and collided with a tractor-trailer.
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+ At least four U.S. states have outlawed texting while driving: Alaska, Minnesota, New Jersey and Washington.
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+ Legislation is being considered in 16 other states.
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+ France forbids the use of a telephone while driving, including text-messaging.
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+ Singapore bans messaging while driving.
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+ The Philippines has a bill on the matter pending in Parliament.
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+ New Zealand is pondering a ban after a driver killed two people while texting.
Why not?
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There are a lot of things people shouldn't be doing while driving, but you can't pass laws banning everything.
Because
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Sure you can. You can pass as many laws as you want.
What about here?
We'll consider the issue only after there's a fatal accident involving some model-turned-singer. There will be lots of crying, posturing, shouting and pledging, and then we'll lose interest and turn our attention to something more critical, such as the latest craze in baked goods from Japan.
.jpg "Escape Routes: Nov14, 2008")
