Current Event for the Week of 9/21/07
California bans cell-phone use for teen drivers.
California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger passed a law saying that no teen driver is allowed be on a cellphone while driving, even though older drivers are. This law will fine teenagers $20 for the first offense and $50 the second. The law takes effect January 1st.
Read the article here.
Is this fair at all that teenagers can't be on the phone will older drivers can? Just because somebody is older doesn't mean they can't get into an accident while on the phone. The law doesn't take into account how long a person has had their license. An 18 year old can just get their license and be on the phone while maybe a 17 year old who's had their license for two years can't be on the phone. Where is the fairness in that? How can this law be changed to make it more fair for a larger number of people? Do you think this will actually help create less car accidents in the states that have this law?
California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger passed a law saying that no teen driver is allowed be on a cellphone while driving, even though older drivers are. This law will fine teenagers $20 for the first offense and $50 the second. The law takes effect January 1st.
Read the article here.
Is this fair at all that teenagers can't be on the phone will older drivers can? Just because somebody is older doesn't mean they can't get into an accident while on the phone. The law doesn't take into account how long a person has had their license. An 18 year old can just get their license and be on the phone while maybe a 17 year old who's had their license for two years can't be on the phone. Where is the fairness in that? How can this law be changed to make it more fair for a larger number of people? Do you think this will actually help create less car accidents in the states that have this law?
posted by phs_sociology at 3:05 PM
10 Comments:
Personally, I think this is quite fair and I do think it will actually help create less accidents. Really.
I don't know how you good you are at texting, but I am not. I just got a cell phone a few weeks ago and I don't know what the heck I am doing. I actually tried texting and driving at the same time last week, and let me tell you, ...I'm surprised I didn't drive into a lake or something. And I know that other people would feel the same way, even those pro-texters. It's just true. Teenagers are much more scatter-brained and much more focused on other things rather than driving. This just doubles the scatter-brained-ness when a cell phone is involved.
If it's that big of a deal just pull over and text your precious friend who could't wait more than 1 minute to have a response.
Jeesh. Talk about having an electric heart-beat....
I think it should be just forteenagers with spots on their records.Even if that means a minor speeding ticket, or driving without a seatbelt on. I also think that rule should apply to all adults with more than 4 points on their driving record , because obviously that must mean that they are easily distracted/ have a slower reaction time than others. It doesn't need to consider how long a person has had their license because you always need to follow safe driving no matter how long you've been driving. I think paying less attention to the phones and more attention to the road will create less care accidents.
I personally hate how adults blame teenagers for everything. Besides the fact that yes, they do have more experience in driving, we're not the only ones getting in recks here. There are millions of adults that get into car accidents each year and the cause of them could be connected to a cell phone.
What if a teenager is driving and needs directions or or if their parents call them while driving? Are they supposed to just guess where to go and not answer their parents call?
To sum it up, i don't think that teenagers are going to follow the law and just surpass it because cell phones are a big part of life now and you need them for wherever you're going.
I think that this law is completely ridiculous. I can see why he thinks it will reduce the number of car accidents. At the same time, it takes away an American freedom. Also, the law never stated weather you can be on it in the car, or while the car is moving, therefore, if a teen, and/or, younger person gets in a car accident, and dont have their phone becuase they are afraid to get caught with it, they may not be able to get help. Thus causing more teen deaths rather than just accidents. I do think that is a necessesity to have a phone in the car so this does not happen. Also, to make it a law for every person. They must at least pull over and call if something bad happens.
I personally wouldnt mind it, because you cannot get everyone to ever fully follow through with any law what so ever.
i think this law is both fair and unfair to a certain extent. its pretty crappy that us teenagers get blamed for every accident that happens in the world when that is most definitely not true. ive almost gotten in 2 really bad wrecks because of senior citizens that dont pay attention and are hard of hearing. teenagers do get distracted easily but so does everyone else i think. if they are going to ban teenagers from cell phones while driving they should ban every one because no matter how old you are it still takes your mind off the road and your surroundings
I think that this law will create less accident but if they're going to create a law against teens driving while using a cell phone they should just make it against everyone. Anyone can get in an accident using a cell phone while driving not just teenagers.
It is a good law to pass but make it for everyone and not just teens. As for being fair, it's not but when is life ever fair??? I think that if your on a blue tooth or if you have a phone in you car, then you should be able to talk while driving. It may not be totally safe, but at least you can have both hands on the wheel. Teens seem to not pay attention to the road as much as grownups do, so yes, i think this law will help decrease the number of accidents.
I think it is a good idea to ban cell phone use while driving. However, I feel this law is unfair because anyone, no matter what age, can get into a car crash by being distracted by their phone. I don't understand why teenagers are the only ones being picked out. While in the car myself, most drivers I see on their phones are over 20, at least. I think the law should be to simply ban cell phone use while driving, period. Too many people end up swerving, greatly slowing down and causing a build-up of traffic, and other dangerous things all because they have to be talking on the phone.
I don't know what the statistics say about how many accidents occured when people were on there cell phones but it can't be that much more than when people aren't using them. Even though I sometimes do it, I do think that texting while driving is very dangerous, but it sort of makes you focus more because you know you need to really be paying attention to do both things at once. Usually conversations can wait until youre out of the car, but what if someone is lost and needs directions? I also don't think its very fair that adult can be on them but teenagers can't. Yes, they are more experienced, but it distracts everyone the same.
This law seems to be reasonable because young teens are inexperienced with driving and cell phone distractions take them from focussing on the road which they probably already forgot about because they saw a friend drive by and are too busy waving. And even though 18 year old people would be able to the government obviously thinks at that age the kids are growing up more because there is no requirement to take driving classes once you turn 18, only the driving test. The younger teens will get plenty of practice using a cell phone and driving a car and they will be able to look forward to being 18 when they can combind their two talents together! It doesn's seem all that unreasonable or illogical to me, rather a safer way to get from place to place.
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