[IP] Silliness in Action: California Poised for Cell Phone Ban

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren@vortex.com>
Date: August 27, 2006 11:16:53 AM EDT
To: dave@farber.net
Cc: lauren@vortex.com, smoke_dc@yahoo.com
Subject: more on Silliness in Action: California Poised for Cell  
Phone Ban


> From: patrick thibodeau <smoke_dc@yahoo.com>
> If the California law is silly, then what
> should be done to reduce cell phone related death and
> injury?

Enact and enforce strong laws with significant penalties against
distracted/unsafe driving in *any* form.  In many states, laws are
already are on the books related to distracted driving, that would
in theory cover unsafe driving actions while using a cell phone
(whether hands-free or handheld) as well as any other unsafe actions
that drivers may embark upon while driving.  Unfortunately, these
laws are not widely enforced.

As I noted previously, if you want to remove cell phones from the
long list of potential driving distractions, the science indicates
that you would need to ban their use entirely (whether hands-free or
not) -- merely substituting hands-free for hand held won't have the
intended effect in the long run.

We might want to remove car radios and other audio/video devices
also, since people fiddling with radio and other control knobs in
vehicles while driving are high up on the "distractions leading to
accidents" list.

Or... we can stop the inappropriate focus on individual devices and
instead concentrate on actual driving and drivers behaving in unsafe
manners -- no matter what the reason for their distractions.

---Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren@vortex.com or lauren@pfir.org
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR
   - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, IOIC
   - International Open Internet Coalition - http://www.ioic.net
Moderator, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
DayThink: http://daythink.vortex.com




-------------------------------------
To manage your subscription, go to
 http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip

Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/