Sounds like we basically agree. Just that it's difficult to do something about it.

__________________
Numbers are not case sensitive. (me)

I'm kind of of two minds on this one. At first blush, it seems like an overreach of government power and yet...

We have all kinds of other laws restricting when, where, and how pedestrians can cross the street. Is this one really significantly different?

__________________
SeanF

"Ask to understand, but don't challenge unless you have the knowledge."--NEOWatcher

The contents of this post are ©2008 by SeanF and may not be copied or retransmitted in any form without the express written consent of SeanF

We agree for slightly different reasons. I wholeheartedly agree with you that making lots of laws that define acceptable behavior shuts off critical thought as to why a behavior is inappropriate or not. At the same time, there is a certain segment of a population that's just destined not to get it, and the results are usually spectacularly tragic. I think this is less about protecting the clueless as it is protecting the world from them.

It actually started at 23 or 33 and went up with each chorus as I recall.

Argos, I'm glad that your situation resulted in nothing permanent. I worked with a guy that had a similar situation. The laws here regarding bicycles is that they are to be ridden on the side of the street, in the same direction as the traffic flow. You are not supposed to ride i to on coming traffic, or on the sidewalk. My friend was coming to work one night and came down a hill to a light where he was going to make a left turn (this cuts across the on coming lane). As he got through the actual road part, there was a flash in his headlights and a thump. A guy on a bike, listening to his portable CD player was on the wrong side of the road, on the sidewalk and flew into the intersection. He was hit and went down hard, but the cd player actually took most of the impact. He was sore and had some scratches but otherwise unharmed. Police were called and the driver of the car was released within 10 minutes. The guy on the bike may or may not have gotten a ticket for improper look out, but as he was the one at fault, he was the only one detained.

Here, having a radio on, or even smoking in the car would be listed as a mitigating factor in an accident. That is, while it's not illegal to smoke while driving, the fact that the driver was trying to fish the lit cigarette out of their lap would be a factor that shifts the blame more onto them.

As for the article, I still don't see that there was enough of a problem with it that "they're being taken out in sufficient numbers to establish a credible enough pattern that even clueless local level politicians are becoming aware of it"* Three people in his area since September sounds bad, but how many total have there been. That's less than 1 per month. To me it sounds like the politician has a problem with iPods and wants to be petty about it.

The really stupid thing about this is that I can see something like this getting the ACLU involved then turning into a huge media spectacle lasting for years and costings millions.

*from Doodler

__________________
I'm not evil.
An evil person would do the things I think up.

Once is an incident, two is a coincidence, three's a pattern. While it might feel like they're jumping the gun, the question could also be asked, how many dead bodies do you need to pile up before you take action?

Couple different ways to look at this, depending on how you spin it.

True, there are a couple of ways to look at it. If the problem can be shown to be directly related to the use of earbuds, then it might bear looking into further, but in my town the number of car v ped accidents in 2003 (last year I found with complete totals) was 119. Three since September is about 10 per year, in a much busier area. There's probably more people that cross a given street in NYC than live in Salt Lake. Earbuds may very well be a mitigating factor in the accidents, but the bottom line is that it is the resposibility of the person steping off the curb to be aware. That's not something that can ever be legislated as long as there is free will.

__________________
I'm not evil.
An evil person would do the things I think up.

Ah! Well, in my defense, it has been a loooong time since I saw that one

__________________
Carl Matherly

Offical Battlestar Galactica Apologist

Named Time Magazine's 2006 "Person of the Year"

It did get it's point across though. Ahh the days when Disney was still in it for the magic...*sigh*

__________________
I'm not evil.
An evil person would do the things I think up.

Nice try, but you can't govern stupidity. There are always destractions. Be it "electronic gadgetry" or not. The times I've done the dumbest and most absent-minded things have actually been in the complete lack of any outside distraction. By that, I mean the times I get lost in my head. Should inner dialogue be banned while crossing the street or driving? Electronic devises are just a scapegoat for wandering attention.

You can argue that headphones block all (or most) outside sound, because they do. So does that mean that deaf people shouldn't be allowed to cross the street, because you would have no way to shout a warning to them?

No ammount of laws can force common sense. "Jaywalking" laws already exist to fine those who improperly enter the road. You can be sited for jaywalking even if you are in the crosswalk, if you do not have the right of way. It's just not generally enforced.

So in contrary to the OP (unless that was sarcasm and i missed it) they are just doing what all legislators always do: making new laws that do the same thing as the old laws, but are called something different so that voters think "hey, this guy is really *doing* something!". They need to focus on repairing unnecessary/outdated laws, but that doesn't look as good to voters.

__________________
I'm like one of those idiot savants...well, except for the savant part.

Fazor has got a point. When I drive I talk on the phone, have ever since I got one. It is by far the best way to pass time and to catch up with distant friends when I travel, and I do that a lot.

I've driven from St. Louis to Dallas and only stopped talking to fill up or to call someone else. That can be a 12 hour drive. In traffic maybe less, but maybe not. I've been lucky so far with no problems while talking and driving.

BUT, give me some food while I'm driving and I might as well be drunk. I lose sight of the road the think about the toasty subway sandwich or taco bell burrito sitting warm in my hands and forget all about the road. Distractions, as Fazor puts it, come in many forms and for each person different ones exist. My biggest is food.

You'd do a lot better as a pedestrian to walk in front of me talking on the phone than eating. Just because a device is electronic doesn't mean it's dangerous.

__________________
"I will do my best to understand and explain the universe from big to small without invoking miracles, unrepeatable events, or divine intervention. In place of those things I will use observations, mathematics, and science."


-Cross
My travel blog

Some of my Astrophotography


Those that lack education have a hard time understanding its value. - Cross

I always have a point It's just rarely a good point or a valid point. But it's a point none-the less.

__________________
I'm like one of those idiot savants...well, except for the savant part.

Uh oh, jack-knifing semi at 1 oclock, separation of only 200 feet, best begin evasive manuevers by . . . . Oooooh, donuts.

(Loud crashing sounds).

__________________
Don of Borg - Cool, Calm, Collective.

"Within the next generation I believe that the world's leaders will discover that infant conditioning and narco-hypnosis are more efficient, as instruments of government, than clubs and prisons, and that the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

exactly Farmer. If I drop an olive out of my sandwich someone's gonna die.

__________________
"I will do my best to understand and explain the universe from big to small without invoking miracles, unrepeatable events, or divine intervention. In place of those things I will use observations, mathematics, and science."


-Cross
My travel blog

Some of my Astrophotography


Those that lack education have a hard time understanding its value. - Cross

Gods, I love those cartoons. (There was a whole series of them, you know.) I know they skipped several of the middle age years, because the cartoons just weren't long enough. I'm also quite fond of the Goofy "How to Drive" cartoons and the Donald Duck safety cartoons. Heck of a series.

__________________
Gillian

"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"

I've recently picked up the Gummi Bears DVD set (first three seasons). Partly for the nostalgia (surprisingly good cartoons, even at 30-something), partly to be properly equipped for when my goddaughter gets just a little bit older.

I like to think that watching the Gummis helped whet my appetite for exploration and technology, which is a big part of who I am today.

__________________
In Fallout 3, 'happiness' is a warm junkyard dog and a loaded gun. It's mostly the loaded gun.
- Moose's one-line review.

"your going to regret that one. You are now a colonoscope...
- Chrissy, corrupting PraedSt's wish.

Heh, sorry, I'd been watching muppets on youtube earlier. Couldn't resist.

__________________
In Fallout 3, 'happiness' is a warm junkyard dog and a loaded gun. It's mostly the loaded gun.
- Moose's one-line review.

"your going to regret that one. You are now a colonoscope...
- Chrissy, corrupting PraedSt's wish.

Gee, where've we heard that line before?

I like editing out words to see what I can come up with.

__________________
"I will do my best to understand and explain the universe from big to small without invoking miracles, unrepeatable events, or divine intervention. In place of those things I will use observations, mathematics, and science."


-Cross
My travel blog

Some of my Astrophotography


Those that lack education have a hard time understanding its value. - Cross