Pretext? Earl, it's the Post-text Event that Agitates Me
*Full disclosure: I'm still feisty after yesterday afternoon, when some guy on the phone while driving an Annie's Catering van nearly creamed me and my motorcycle by changing lanes without signaling, and then smiled and waved.
Under new statutes, anyone who texts behind the wheel and causes a fatality accident in Utah can be punished by up to 15 years in prison, and a $10,000 fine. Assuming the textor wasn't the fatality in question.
Is this a good idea?
This is a GREAT idea.1 Not just for Utah, whose Ogden-Provo corridor along I-15 showcases some of America's worst driving, but for everywhere outside of the textor's own driveway. Think about it:
Under new statutes, anyone who texts behind the wheel and causes a fatality accident in Utah can be punished by up to 15 years in prison, and a $10,000 fine. Assuming the textor wasn't the fatality in question.
Is this a good idea?
This is a GREAT idea.1 Not just for Utah, whose Ogden-Provo corridor along I-15 showcases some of America's worst driving, but for everywhere outside of the textor's own driveway. Think about it:
- you're not allowed to drive your car knee-walking drunk,
- you're not allowed to drive at night without headlights, and
- you're not allowed to drive while holding a phone to your ear . . .
. . . so why on earth should you be allowed to drive while pushing little teeny tiny buttons and watching a little teeny tiny screen on a little teeny tiny device?
Lastly, and if common sense isn't common enough, there are incidental benefits to would-be textors. Sure, the law is a step closer to making the road safer for other drivers. But trust me, the last thing you want me to learn is that you killed my loved one because, "omg g clooney is dreamy <3."
_____________________
1 But see Earl Warren, dissenting based upon 'pretext' concerns.
Lastly, and if common sense isn't common enough, there are incidental benefits to would-be textors. Sure, the law is a step closer to making the road safer for other drivers. But trust me, the last thing you want me to learn is that you killed my loved one because, "omg g clooney is dreamy <3."
_____________________
1 But see Earl Warren, dissenting based upon 'pretext' concerns.
posted by Patrick Bageant at 7:41 PM
6 Comments:
textor or texter?
textfeasor
also: captcha = "lasterst." cool. as in, "i'm the lasterst resort for all the firms i interviewed with."
Patrick FTW!
While I'm always among the first to adopt and defend new technologies, texting, like twitter, makes very little sense to me.
Utah, represent. Props for knowing something about the atrociousness of Utah driving in general, and Utah county driving in particular. My family makes biannual trips to Provo for the BYU/Utah football game, and I always remark that you can tell you're getting close when the right lane mysteriously becomes the fast lane. But if you ask them, it's the rest of us who are backwards.
Footnotes with properly italicized signals? Patrick is raising the standards for blog posts! Unreliable news medium, my a##!
Toney-
While I agree that Twitter is likely a senseless fad, the benefits of texting over talking/vmailing are legion in many circumstances. Texting is
(1) more efficient for conveying useful information (addresses, times, phone numbers, etc.);
(2) more discrete (e.g., sending messages from under the table at dinner);
(3) more versatile with respect to noise (texting to/from a loud music venue or bar); and
(4) easily automated (for example, I receive daily text messages from my bank letting me know what my balance is).
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