All of the studies in the world don't seem to impress members of the Alabama Legislature when it comes to common sense bills. Rep. Jim McClendon (R, Springville) has tried session after session to convince his fellow house members to approve a bill banning texting while driving... just for teenagers. Yet again and again the sessions end without passage. In January most lawmakers claimed to be in favor of the bill, yet it failed. McClendon told me last year there are legislators who actually think it's a freedom issue, that the state shouldn't be telling people how to drive. The newest study proves conclusively that texting while driving is dangerous (like we needed a study???), yet I'm confident our legislators will find a reason not to vote for the legislation again in 2010. If you think a texting ban would be unenforceable, consider this: it would give parents words about loosing a license the force of law, and that might be just enough to convince a kid not to text. And it just might be a kid who's car is aiming at yours.
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Jul 29, 2009
R U rdy to txt?
All of the studies in the world don't seem to impress members of the Alabama Legislature when it comes to common sense bills. Rep. Jim McClendon (R, Springville) has tried session after session to convince his fellow house members to approve a bill banning texting while driving... just for teenagers. Yet again and again the sessions end without passage. In January most lawmakers claimed to be in favor of the bill, yet it failed. McClendon told me last year there are legislators who actually think it's a freedom issue, that the state shouldn't be telling people how to drive. The newest study proves conclusively that texting while driving is dangerous (like we needed a study???), yet I'm confident our legislators will find a reason not to vote for the legislation again in 2010. If you think a texting ban would be unenforceable, consider this: it would give parents words about loosing a license the force of law, and that might be just enough to convince a kid not to text. And it just might be a kid who's car is aiming at yours.
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There might just possibly be a correlation between the inaction by the legislators and campaign contributions by the wireless companies.
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