Oh my God!
Here's a good cartoon for ya!
Posted on 02/09/2007 8:21:46 AM PST by Graybeard58
BARRE, Vt. -- Put down the flute and keep your eyes on the road.
And forget about sipping that cup of coffee on the way to work, or smoking a cigarette on the way home. In some states, it could soon be illegal -- if it isn't already.
Emboldened by the passage of cell phone bans for drivers in some communities, states are turning their attention to other things that drive motorists to distraction.
Vermont lawmakers are considering a measure that would ban eating, drinking, smoking, reading, writing, personal grooming, playing an instrument, "interacting with pets or cargo," talking on a cell phone or using any other personal communication device while driving. The punishment: a fine of up to $600.
Similar bills are under consideration in Maryland and Texas.
Connecticut has passed one that generically bans any activity that could interfere with the safe operation of a motor vehicle.
"Cell phones attracted people to this issue," said Matt Sundeen, a transportation analyst with the National Conference of State Legislatures. "Now that people are more focused on distracted driving issues, they're beginning to talk about the broader range of distractions."
For the sponsor of the Vermont bill, the motivation came from his own observations.
"What finally pushed me over the edge was when I was at a stop sign and somebody opposite me was trying to navigate around the corner with a cell phone to the ear in one hand and a cigarette in the other, and she wasn't doing very well," said Republican state Rep. Thomas F. Koch.
He said his wife recently saw a driver playing the flute, which led him to include the instrument ban in his bill.
"There are a lot of bad habits out on the road. This isn't just for drivers' own good. This is to protect the other people on the road," he said.
Often, they need protection:
In Illinois, a bicyclist was killed by a driver who had been downloading cell phone ring tones while behind the wheel last September.
In Westminster, Calif., a 7-year-old boy was struck and killed by an SUV whose driver lost control as he was trying to reach a cell phone and plowed into a family at a bus stop Nov. 29, authorities said.
In Spokane, Wash., a trucker who was allegedly using a cell phone crossed a highway median and struck another truck head-on, killing five children, in 2005.
In Athens, Ala., a woman lost control of her car while reaching for a ringing cell phone and crashed into a church last month.
Distracted drivers were involved in nearly eight out of 10 collisions or near-crashes in a study released last year by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Young drivers are some of the worst offenders.
A study of more than 5,600 students released last month by the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and State Farm Insurance Co. reported that nearly 90 percent had seen friends drive while talking on cell phones and that half saw drivers playing hand-held games, using listening devices or sending text messages.
Jeff Rogers, 44, of Barre, filling up his pickup at a gas station Thursday, said the Vermont bill is "going a little too far."
"I can understand the cell phone thing," he said. "But the rest of it, how are they going to enforce that?"
expressing agreement, to be sure!!
Police are above the law. Even when they are off duty.
Thank you, gidget.
A few articles among many:
http://www.banned-books.com/truth-seeker/1994archive/121_3/ts213l.html
http://www.lawrence.edu/sorg/objectivism/socfasc.html
http://www.quebecoislibre.org/06/061105-5.htm
I disagree. The Romans became too multicultural in their own time. The people in the badlands didn't become assimilated before they overstretched all the way to Britain.
Do that know that the major freeways in Europe are on the foundations that the Romans built? They had construction engineers that knew what they were doing. The Roman aqueduct in Valencia, Spain is still usable if needed. It was built to last and is very well done. Visit the place and take pictures. There is a nice place to eat near by. Bath, near Salisbury, England is another place to check out. It's a big Roman swimming pool with columns holding it together and the same warm water flowing into it as it has for 2K years. Rome invented swimming pools.
Rome made 2 strategic errors. They didn't build 4x4 trucks for the roads. And they didn't make thongs for the women that like hanging around swimming pools:):)
Poeple that drive trucks should have their cell phones jammed. A few years ago, a guy was driving a bunch of chickens to L.A. on the 405 near the 101 (Ventura FWY). It overturned. 10 lanes of traffic stopped while hundreds of chickens ran around the place. He climbed out holding his cell phone. The same thing with a beer truck 2 years ago. Free beer. And a truckful of pigs. Near the I-5 and 405. You can't be distracted on these particular freeways. Drive defensively. Buy a big pick-up with a shell so everybody sees you.
Um...sub-section 3009.876xyz will have the token exemption for police and politicians.
No, I'm not the author. I googled 'fascism private property' and posted some of the better composed articles.
We moved to Oklahoma about 12 years ago because it's extremely homeschool friendly. Our daughter is in college now, so all I see are the high taxes and the strange control Dims have over a mostly conservative populace.
You mean Highway Skulls?
Did the flosser wreck or cause a wreck? Did you wreck as a result of watching the flosser?
They'll never catch me.
There goes my piano practice on the way to work.
It's not a flute, officer. It's a recorder.....
I honked at him and he nearly left the road.
Oh my God!
Here's a good cartoon for ya!
I hate to say it, but that cartoon is PRICELESS!!!!!!!!
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