IDAHO: State misses the call

Arriving a few days ago in Coeur d’Alene I was amazed to see what I thought were drunk drivers all around me. When I looked closer, though, I realized that they were not drunk but were using cell phones or texting. The thing that was so clear to me was that the majority of these careless people were driving in the precise manner that I watched for in my former job as a policeman when looking for drunk drivers.

It is well proven that there is virtually no difference between using a cell phone while driving and impaired driving. It makes almost no difference whether it’s hands free or not. Texting while driving is simply insanely dangerous. Hopefully this reality will soon be realized by your legislators as it already has been in many regions. Wherever this has been recognized and the use of cell phones in vehicles in motion outlawed the numbers of accidents have been sharply reduced and lives are being saved.

Those who consider these crazy practises to be a right should realize that they have a responsibility to the safety of those around them before they have any right to participate in a practice as dangerous as using cell phones in any manner whatsoever in their vehicles.

DON MEISTER

Saskatoon, SK.

Canada