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Text-Message Queen Look Out
The governor should be grateful that she has a driver, because if lawmakers vote to ban text messaging while driving, she'd be doing time behind bars big time.
The governor, Queen of text messaging, spends more time with her Crack..err Blackberry than she does with her kids. And of course she has lots of company but the national Transportation Secretary this week is urging state legislatures to get on the stick and ban the practice in traffic and looks like Michigan might fall in line.
"I expect a vote on it after the summer break," reports Dearborn Rep. Gino Polidori who's been on mission to not only ban texting but cell phone usage as well.
So far he is O for life on both fronts but the chair of the House Transportation Committee here has promised to put this up for a vote soon.
He is not nearly as sanguine when it comes to hanging up cell phones behind the wheel. "To many of the guys do that," he notes referring to his colleagues who probably don't want to create a law they can't or won't obey.
The federal government for about five years has been sitting on evidence that taking your eyes off the road for even five seconds, dramatically increases you changes of a crash. Hope they didn't spend too much of your money to find that out. It's just common sense, a no brainer, but up until now lawmakers in this town have not acted.
Assuming Polidori is successful in the house, he has to tackle the decidedly more conservative and libertarian state senate where they never met a ban on anything they didn't hate.
The job of lawmakers is to protect the public. It says so right there in the constitution and a ban on texting and driving does just that.
Wonder what the texting queen will do when she has no chauffeur?
posted by Tim Skubick at
5:15 AM
7 Comments:
You seem to be infavor of this ban. Do you use a cell phone or do you text. If so how will you ever get buy?
Dennis McGuire
Tim: Write some alternative lyrics to ABBA's Dancing Queen (but call your version Texting Queen), put it to music and make a youtube video feature her highness.
She'll just pardon herself if found guilty!
Banning texting is a superficial remedy to a much deeper problem. Driver Distraction comes in so many flavors these days we would have to eliminate the individual rights of every citizen in the country to ensure a few drive responsibly. How about letting us citizens do as we please, but hold us accountable for our individual irresponsibility?
Jail time, big fines, and loss of drivers licenses for driver distraction caused mayhem puts the responsibility where it belongs, and leaves those who can use their equipment intelligently and responsibly alone. So much for the land of the free.
Banning texting is a superficial remedy to a much deeper problem. Driver Distraction comes in so many flavors these days we would have to eliminate the individual rights of every citizen in the country to ensure a few drive responsibly. How about letting us citizens do as we please, but hold us accountable for our individual irresponsibility?
Jail time, big fines, and loss of drivers licenses for driver distraction caused mayhem puts the responsibility where it belongs, and leaves those who can use their equipment intelligently and responsibly alone. So much for the land of the free.
Tim, I usually have no problem reading your posts (and I really enjoy them) but this post is problematic. The sentence, "The governor, Queen of text messaging, spends more time with her Crack..err Blackberry than she does with her kids," is inappropriate. This is a political blog, not a "let's judge who's a bad parent" blog. You do not have any insight into the relationship Governor Granholm has with her kids. You should apologize.
Who is saying that Granholm would text while driving? What a ridiculous accusation! Just because someone likes texting, doesn't mean they'd EVER do it behind the wheel.
Tim, you are supposed to be a journalist. Act like one.
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