If things go as planned by the Public Safety Commission
here in San Jose East (Austin. TX), the great populous will no longer be able
to use our “constitutionally enabled” cell phones as we here to fore have been—it’ll be illegal. All
that remains is the City Council (those guys that will be out of a job come the
elections in November when the “great electoral” change takes place.) to vote for
the fast-tracking of an ordinance “banning the use of hand-held communications
devices and electronics while driving.”[i]
Of course, if you possess a vehicle that allows for a “hands free” device, the proposed
law will not affect you.
I wonder how they will enforce the ordnance once it
becomes law. Greater than 30% of the citations issued under the current ordinance
banning “texting” have been dismissed in Municipal Court—so what will make this ban easier to be upheld. Is
the answer better policing? I don’t think so. It’s not the police that are the
problem here; they’re out there writing the tickets and the cases fall out of
the system for one reason or another.
Several Texas cities have laws prohibiting the use of
hand-held devices: San Antonio, El Paso, Amarillo and Corpus Christi—all according to the
same Statesman article.
If this area of concern is so big a problem, why hasn’t
the state done something about it? Oh, that’s right, they did. In 2011, by votes
of 28–3 in the Senate and 80-61 in the House, the Texas Legislature passed a
bill (HB242) which banned “texting” while driving.
Our “always-watching-out-for-us” Governor Rick Perry vetoed
the legislation. The “Gov” cited the overreach of the legislature to “micromanage
the behavior of adults” and “an intrusion into Texans’ lives.”[ii]
He went further to recommend that we all get better education on the problem.
Well, we all know where trying to improve education has gotten us!
This all reminds me of the Waco city statute that was
struck down in the courts that required pedestrians on south facing sidewalks
to hop their way east and west, but skip their way if heading north or south—a real micromanagement
if I ever saw one. We are lucky the courts saw the light. Maybe the courts will
approach the Austin adventure with the same frame of mind.
As important as all this safety talk is to each and every
one of us, we still do not have the problems that other states and communities
have. Consider the fact that the legislators of the Great State of New York are
expected to meet in special session early next week to draft and pass
legislation prohibiting the wearing of snakes around one’s neck while driving.[iii]
The proposed legislation is being called “DWS”—driving while snaked! Maybe they should not overstep—thank you Governor Perry—and title it “DWSS”—driving while stolen
snaked. I bet they wouldn’t want to swing the scales of justice way too far to
the overreaching side.
[i] Austin
panel calls for ban on hand-held cellphone use while driving, Philp Jankowski, Austin-American
Statesman, 04 Aug 14
[ii] Perry
Issues Vetoes, Nixes Texting-and-Driving Ban, Brandi Grissom and Thanh Tan, the
Texas Tribune, 17 Jun 11
[iii] Stolen
python found wrapped around neck of drunk woman in crash, Natasha Velez and
Kevin Sheehan, NY Post, 05 Aug 14
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