A new law signed today by Missouri Governor Jay Nixon has outlawed those 21 and younger from texting on their cell phones while driving. While many might applaud this bill I find it somewhat crazy. Here are a couple of reasons why:
1) It will not stop teens from texting. While the law itself has good intentions, it will not stop them from doing it because there are far too many loopholes. Are cops going to pull them over for texting? How can that be proved if they do? The teen could simply claim that they were calling someone, which is not illegal. That to me is the bigger issue here.
2) Why only 16-21 year olds? I will admit that I do sometimes text while driving. Should I? Absolutely not! I don't understand why the texting law is just confined to the younger age group.
The one benefit of this law as I can see it would be that they could fine someone or add an additional penalty to a teen if they were involved in a wreck and texting contributed to it. Again, that is difficult to prove. Plus, by that time if the wreck has already happened then it is too late.
1 comment:
The cops could easily just set up at the exits of any high school in the state and catch tons of offenders.
For that matter, I'm sure plenty of broken laws could be dealt with at high school parking lot exits. Isn't there a law where teens can't have so many people in the car with them while they drive? How many kids have you seen packed into a little beater with the bass cranked up.
Post a Comment