Comments on: Defending the right to be irresponsible behind the wheel

By: Bgrand2day

Bgrand2day — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 05:24:09 +0000

the government has no right to tell me what i can and cannot do. im can operate a car fine while texting, in fact people not texting arent always as good at driving, so i dont think the goverment can tell me not to. its violating my rights not to let me do what i want in my own car.

By: Zufechten

Zufechten — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 01:44:52 +0000

Every right and privilege comes with the attendant responsibility to exercise it with regard to the effects on others, whether it is dumping toxic materials, selling risky real estate derivatives, or operating a three ton truck while not paying attention.

To rephrase an old saying, your privilege to drive your car ends where my nose begins.

By: Bryan Fordham

Bryan Fordham — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:40:31 +0000

The logic doesn’t make perfect sense unless you begin from the assumption that the government should regulate anything potentially dangerous.

I also never said it wasn’t dangerous to text and drive. But this type of hyperbolic posts don’t make the case well at all.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:25:40 +0000

The logic of this post makes perfect sense. I don’t think the point is that anything that could possibly hurt someone should be outlawed, but that anything that has pretty good chance of hurting someone should. The evidence of the dangers of texting while driving are accepted by all roadway safety organizations. There is no controversy.

This letter to the editor suggests the governement response should be based on property right (“this is my car!”) which is ridiculous. You are driving in public. Regulations should be based on data.

Should it be illegal to possess a cell phone/ baseball bat in public? No.
Should it be illegal to use it to text while driving/swing it recklessly? Yes.

By: Bryan Fordham

Bryan Fordham — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:47:06 +0000

So your point, then, is anything that could possibly hurt someone should be outlawed? We have laws about wild animals and swinging bats already. What about just walking down the street carrying a bat, though? I might swing it, and it might hit someone. We need a law for that, too, perhaps.

Implying that what the author of that letter means by saying the government should “fix the roads” is that they should build more roads without crosswalks is another example of silly logic on your part.

We already have laws against running over people. And we have laws against driving dangerously. Those certainly need to be enforced.

And perhaps there’s a good argument to be made about expanding those laws to cover texting while driving, but I’m afraid you didn’t make one here.