As a follow up to Julie Ferguson’s gruesome imagery from Monday’s blog, we find Clyde Haberman’s entertaining piece in the New York Times about the state’s new statute outlawing texting. As of November 1, it will be illegal for anyone to drive and text in the Empire State. Haberman goes on to write:
If any law may be described as a no-brainer, this one is it. You have to be certifiable to think that you can stare at a small screen and thumb-type on a tiny keyboard for five or six seconds while going 65 miles an hour, and not be a potential threat to everyone in your path. In the opinion of many safety experts, self-deluding multitaskers have had their way long enough. It’s time for some multi-tsking to rein them in.
Bravo, Clyde! But Haberman goes on to say that the new law is pretty toothless. “It doesn’t throw the book at texters so much as it tosses a few pages in their direction.” (Shades of Keith Olbermann?)
The problem is in enforcement. The new statute will only receive “secondary” enforcement, which means that a fine may be imposed only if the police find some other violation, such as speeding or running a red light. Beyond that, the maximum penalty is only $150. That’s chump change for the high rolling multi-taskers who clog New York’s multitudinous arteries.
Live Free and Die?
Haberman interviews Judith Lee Stone, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, a Washington lobbying group. She says “secondary enforcement is not OK, and there’s no reason for it.”
The good folks in New York like to creep up on enforcement. When they first initiated a seat belt law, they began with secondary enforcement and eventually moved to primary status. All states now require seatbelts, with the notable exception of New Hampshire, which exempts adults over 18 from the mandate.
“It must be that “Live Free or Die” spirit,” Haberman quips.
To which Stone responds, “Live free and die, I’d say.”
The low budget ($20,000) video was produced by the Chief Constable of the tiny town of Gwent in SE Wales UK. The video has become a You-Tube sensation. The Insider humbly suggests that New York legislators check it out and then revisit the enforcement section of the new law. No one wants to suffer injury or even death just because some twit can’t wait to for the proper time to communicate something that, in the scheme of things, most certainly can wait.
Tags: distracted driving, driving, New York, texting