It Is Enforceable But……

I was reading THIS over at the Chronicle and while I agree with what is written for the most part, I do have to disagree just a bit.

If you didn’t hit the link and find out what I am talking about, it’s about the new texting law that is going into effect on January 1st, 2010.  I think the law means well but unlike CJ, I think it is enforceable by the police but will it be by our police?

CJ seems to think that it will be hard to tell if someone was texting or if that person was merely checking a GPS app on their cell phone for directions.  How can one tell?  In fact, it is suggested that if a ticket is issued, it will be after the fact.  In other words, if an accident happens and cell phones are checked, and if it is found that a text message was sent or received about the time of the accident, then that person, if still alive, will get a ticket.  That is how it happened when that young girl was tragically killed while texting a few months back.  The police checked the time of the 911 call from the cell phone of the car she nearly hit and the time of the text the girl got on her cell phone and determined she was texting and driving and that was the probable cause.  Too late huh?

Well, while driving around Peoria during the day, and I do some driving during the day, I see cars all the time that seem to weave out of their lane or sit at a green light or vary their speed from slow to fast back to slow.  When I get the chance to get along side one of these cars there is usually two things happening.  One is they are yakking on a cell phone, which to me is as bad as texting as some people simply can’t walk and chew gum let alone manage driving safely while taking or two, they are texting.  The latter is oblivious as the phone is open and held in their hand and some phones have the slide out keyboard. I can see it and I do see it all the time so the police should be able to spot it also.

Proving it?  Simple, when pulled over the officer only needs to check the Message folder of the phone and see what the times are of texts being received and texts being sent.  If it is a GPS mode, then find, the idiot is driving funny enough to attract the attention of the cop, he can further check the driver out and maybe save a life.  Little consolation if your loved one is killed by a texter or a GPS checker huh?  I personally think both are a distraction as I have drove for years and never needed a device to tell me where to go.  Yes they are cool and yes maybe convenient but to me they can be just as distracting and now they come built into cars.

Back to my main theme here.  Will the local police enforce this new law.  Maybe in North Pekin or small communities like Bartonville but I seriously doubt any enforcement by Peoria Police.  Much like the lack of enforcement of that other law, driving with your headlights on if your wipers are needed.  Never seen a cop in the pouring rain handing out one of those tickets and you see idiots all the time driving with no headlights during the rain or snow.  The law was enacted for safety.  It was about visibility and being seen in bad weather.  A good idea but enforced?  Not likely unless of course it was the cause of an accident, then too late.

No, our cops aren’t going to write the ticket for texting unless there is an accident involved.  I believe this because???  Because while driving down University yesterday, there was a girl in a green Pontiac GP (or whatever) in front of me.  When the light turned green, she just sat there.  The traffic in the other lane proceeded but she sat until I hit the horn, then the good ol “Peoria Symbol” (one middle finger) went up and off she went.  I switched lanes and lo and behold met her at another traffic light.  I looked over and she is pounding away at the keyboard…texting.  In the lane on the other side of her was a Peoria cop.  I thought; “Boy if the law was enacted now, she would be busted!”  Wrong.  The cop didn’t see her or even notice. Why?  Because he was engrossed in his mobile laptop inside his police car, pounding keys as fast as she was.

No, CJ is right, this is a “feel good” law by our useless politicians. It will probably do nothing to save even one life but at least if someone is killed by a “texter”, you’ll have the comfort of knowing the person that killed your loved one will get a texting ticket.

We have entered the 21st century but  people who use the technology have checked their brains at the door while operating 20th century equipment, the automobile.   No matter how fancy your car is, no matter what GPS systems it has, it still has three things all cars have had since Henry Ford drove out the first one. A steering wheel, a brake pedal, and a gas pedal.  If they aren’t used properly, accidents will happen.  They require skill, 2 hands, and concentration to use all 3 properly.  If one hand has a cell phone in it, then trouble is brewing. 

As for the electric billboards?  No comparison.   I have yet to see a electronic billboard at the scene of a fatal accident.  Cell phones on the other hand seem to be everywhere.

Buckle up folks!