What's It Going to Take?

     In general, laws are a good thing.  They are meant to be for the betterment of society, to keep things rolling smoothly.  Then there are laws made that make people shake their head.  I refer to these as the BWLACS laws; Because We've Lost All Common Sense.

     Most of these laws were meant to keep us safe.  For instance, the car seat law.  That is a good one, but I've always thought that whoever created it, did not have any children.  Riding for an hour with a screaming child strapped in a car seat is not for the weak of heart.  Then there is the seat belt law, to save us from ourselves.  I've always been a stickler for this one, I can't back the car out of the garage to drive it fifty feet and park in the driveway without putting on my seat belt.  It is now illegal to talk on a cell phone while driving.  This one is a perfect example of BWLACS.

     When I drive to the county seat, a whopping 8 miles from home, I rarely turn on the radio.  Sometimes I do and sing "Uptown Funk" at the top of my lungs, but for the most part, the radio is off.  The main reason I do this is because I prefer to drive defensively.  If I meet ten cars between home and my destination, I can safely bet that eight of those drivers have their faces looking downwards. They are not checking to see if their shoes match or whether or not they zipped their pants.  They are looking at their cell phone, either reading a text, sending a text or checking their social media app.
It's very disturbing to meet that many people hurling a ton or two of steel down the road at 60 mph and realize they are not looking as to where they are going.  Meeting an eighteen-wheeler with the driver doing this is the reason I color my hair.

     The other evening as I was walking Runtly around the block, for the umpteenth time, a young girl drove by.  She was looking down and the glow from her cellphone illuminated the driver's side of her car and her down turned face.  She had no clue there was someone out walking.  She would have never seen a young person on a bicycle, an approaching vehicle from a side street, or someone's pet crossing the road.

     What is it going to take to get people to understand that driving a vehicle is something that requires their undivided attention?  How many more lives are going to be lost from answering something as trivial as "Whatcha doin?", or updating their most recent social media post?  

     I do not know the answer, but I think there may be another BWLACS law in the making.  It will need to state that it is illegal to carry a cellphone in a moving vehicle unless said phone is locked in a steel safe mounted securely in the trunk.