November 19, 2010
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Obama Czar Wants to Jam Your Cell
This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard: Obama’s Transportation czar wants all Americans to install jamming devices in their vehicles so they can’t text or talk while on the road.What surprises me most about this column is that Malkin didn’t point out that with such jamming devices in place, there would be no way to contact emergency services in the event of an emergency.
Recently, Huntsville has imposed a texting ban, but it’s so watered down, I don’t think it’s enforced. As far as I know, there hasn’t been a substantial change in crash statistics in town, but then again, depending on local media for cover on this issue post-enactment is an act of insanity. My suspicion is that the stats haven’t changed because there haven’t been stories about motorists getting ticketed for texting while driving, because passing this ordinance was about the political posturing of appearing to do something instead of providing a genuine solution to problem.
Comments (7)
Yeah, from what I’ve heard it seems that banning texting while driving has actually increased incidents of accidents and the like because drivers are being much more sneaky in the hopes that they don’t get caught – thus their attention is further distracted leading to more accidents!
The flip side is that it’s not enforced any where near enough. I think texting bans are good in theory – particularly in school zones where a driver’s attention needs to be beyond maximum but beyond that I can’t see how it could realistically be enforced.
Texting bans are definitely a sign of the Nanny State looming large.
Your quote, “because passing this ordinance was about the political posturing of
appearing to do something instead of providing a genuine solution to
problem” hits the nail squarely on the head, I believe.
@cmdr_keen - You’re an amazing political commentator. Have you considered doing a podcast?
@ProfessorTom - You really think so? I just try and keep informed, and in today’s age it’s not that difficult to do. Possibly. It’s certainly something that I could do, although a) I’ll need a bit of extra equipment – my 5+-years-old MacBook may not be up to scratch and b) I HATE the sound of my voice when it’s played back. I shudder everytime…
Thanks for the compliment though!
@cmdr_keen - You’re not the only one that hates the sound of their voice played back. That having been said, I always hear a different voice when I speak and I’m inclined to think that with enough processing, I can sound like a god.
I’ve fantasized about randomly dropping by your place with equipment next year so you’d have a fully set up studio so we can do our podcast, but something tells me that kind of dough won’t be in my possession until at least 2012. :’(
@ProfessorTom - Sounds good. Just tell me when that Book Deal of yours comes through and we’ll set a date! We’ll take over the radio waves one disillusioned person at a time… XP
@cmdr_keen - You’re on!
When I first heard of this, I also wondered how you would contact emergency services if you were trapped in your vehicle. I doubt this would ever get passed. The technology isn’t there, and bypass technology would soon follow if it did exist. Everything out there seems to be able to be bypassed, from beating the radar with radar-detectors, to programs that remove copyright form cd’s and dvd’s, and so on.
Again, it’s the typical government reaction of “instill more regulations instead of enforcing the ones we already have.”