NoTexting and Driving Bill

We the people of the United States, in order to maximize efficiency, choose to eat, sing, change our clothes and most importantly, talk and text on our cell phones while driving our cars. But, one of these seemingly unalienable rights is becoming more and more alienable with every passing session of state congresses across the country. Nineteen states have already fallen to the outrageous claim that “texting while driving is dangerous,” and a bill before the Florida House of Representatives threatens to make Florida the twentieth.

If Bill 41 passes, we will be prohibited from operating a vehicle while “reading, manually writing or typing, or sending a message on an electronic wireless communications device.” Exceptions are made for reporting illegal activity, preventing injury, or summoning help in the event of an emergency, but there will be no emails, no texting, no mobile Facebook.

Sure theoretically the law makes sense. Sure it’s might be a little bit safer to have both eyes on the road. And sure, most of us know at least one person who has been in an accident that involved text messaging, but that doesn’t change the fact that we have spent years practicing steering with our knees and don’t want to see that carefully honed skill go to waste.

We have to put a stop to all this babble about “distracted driving.” We have to ensure that our right to coordinate our weekend plans with our friends, while flying down the interstate at 75 miles an hour, is not torn from us.

But what can simple college students do? Go to www.myfloridahouse.gov and find the contact information of a Florida Representative. We all can find the two minutes to call, email or text our representatives to let them know how we feel. Hey, you can even do it while driving. At least until Oct. 1, 2010.