Washington Passes Law Aimed at a Tenth of a Percent of Traffic Accidents
June 29, 2008
Law
The Associated Press reports that the Washington state legislature has just passed a ban on the use of a handheld cellphone while driving. This new civil infraction comes at a price tag of $124 for people who are issued a citation for the violation.
Following in the footsteps of states such as New York and New Jersey, the ban on this type of cell phone use will do little to improve the safety on Washington’s highways. Russ Rader, a spokesman for the Virginia-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says, “Laws like Washington’s probably will have a big effect on making people feel good about passing a law but zero effect on highway safety … If you continue to allow hands-free phoning, you haven’t addressed the safety problem.”
As Valdes points out in the AP article, “It’s the talking that distracts people,” not holding the device.
To back up this statement, Valdes quotes statistics from the Washington state patrol: 158 reports mentioned the operation of a hand-held device as a contributing factor (including cell phones, MP3 players, smart phones, and other similar devices) out of the 141,000 collisions reported in the state. Let’s see… divide by… multiply by a hundred… that’s 0.1 percent (one tenth of one percent) of collisions reported involvement of the operation of a hand-held device. The ever-vigilant legislature in Washington state took the bull by the horns and enacted an outright ban on the use of a hand-held cell phone while driving… based on a tenth of one percent of all cases?
Is this such a staggering statistic that any legislative body would take action by their own volition, without a mass appeal by their constituents? Well, reading a little further into Valdes’ article brings the point home rather nicely.
New York, the first state to pass a law against hand-held cell phone chatting, issued more than 81,000 tickets in 2002, the first full year the law was in place. By 2007, the number of tickets jumped to more than 312,000, according to the New York Department of Motor Vehicles.
New York State Police Lt. Glenn Minor attributes the increase in tickets to police officers becoming more accustomed to looking for the violation.
Let’s see, 81,000… by 124… ah-ha! Ten million dollars. Let’s see, 312,000… 124… holy crap! Sixty-seven million dollars!
Sure, we have all seen the bumper stickers, “Hang up and drive,” but is there really a need to “protect” the citizens with this kind law? Sure, there are sixty-seven million reasons every year to discourage a repeat of 0.1% of traffic collisions. What next, citations for talking to other passengers while driving?
Email this Article:
Share this Article:
Environmentalists to Salmon: WTF?
June 29, 2008
Environment
According to this article referenced by the Washington Post, sockeye salmon in the Columbia River dealt a blow to global warming enthusiasts this year by parading up the Pacific Northwest river and long-time recreational fishing destination to spawn in numbers ten times that of the previous year.
To bolster the plight of the salmon in the Columbia River, environmental groups have long targeted the eight dams, pollution, and global warming along the U.S. portion of the U.S.-Canadian international river as being detrimental to their populations.
In an unprecedented gesture of nature’s seeming disregard for global warming and man-made dam claims as recent as 2006 and 2007 claiming the dire situation and growing dangers to salmon in the Columbia, this year’s sockeye salmon have returned in numbers not seen since the 1950’s.
Get out your fly-fishing gear!
Email this Article:
Share this Article:
Barr / Nader / Paul ‘08 : Independent Dream Ticket?
June 27, 2008
Politics
In an article published today, NY Times columnist Julie Bosman writes about Bob Barr’s run for the White House in November on the Libertarian Party ticket.
While keeping step with the suppression of mainstream coverage for “non-partisan” candidates, Bosman discounts the potential of a third-party candidate in the 2008 Presidential Election as “marginal,” and refers to Barr specifically as a “spoiler for Mr. McCain.”
However, the article comes across as more than a “spoiler” piece, as she alludes to a deeper, more insidious potential among the “non-partisan” tickets:
But with the Libertarian nomination in hand, Mr. Barr hopes to follow in the footsteps of Ross Perot and Mr. Nader, whose third-party presidential bids wreaked general-election havoc.
For one, he is hoping to hitch his wagon to the enormous grass-roots movement behind Representative Ron Paul, the libertarian-minded Republican from Texas who recently abandoned his own presidential bid.
And with presidential elections increasingly boiling down to state-by-state battles for Electoral College votes, many political analysts think a Barr candidacy, no matter how marginal, could have some impact.
(Emphasis added)
The problem with Independent tickets are not a lack of zeal from supporters, but rather a fracturing from within as they split into multiple factions unable to gain traction as a unified party. While polls indicate that at least one third of Americans are registered “Independent” as their party affiliation, history has shown that the independent mindset of these voters tends to be their Achilles heel. Voting records show a smattering of small groups voting for a wide array of individual “non-partisan” candidates.
Stories like these trickle out of mainstream news sources, without directly stating what is obvious to every American: people are tired of a political system which seems to do little except perpetuate itself, without much benefit to the American people. Is it possible that Independent voters will come together to rally behind a single candidate who can initiate real change in Washington D.C.? That depends whether the independent candidates are willing to put down arms among their own ranks to solidify in a unified front to work for the American people.
There are droves of people ready for real change… all they need is a viable option.
Email this Article:
Share this Article:
“Tom” Takes Cartier to School
June 27, 2008
Technology
In an article on Wired’s blog, we learn that MySpace just landed an advertising deal with luxury jeweler Cartier.
Part of the draw for Cartier to the MySpace platform for advertising is that more than 16 million individual visitors to the popular social networking site have household incomes of $100,000 a year or higher - contrasted with only 11 million over at rival social networking site Facebook.
I wonder if anyone over at MySpace parent company News Corp let on to the Cartier advertising crew that anybody can pick any “household income” they want? In fact, my unemployed neighbor who lives off of ramen noodles and Cheetos has his profile set to a household income of “$250,000+”
Kudos to Besty Schiffman over at the Wired blog for pointing out this rant about ugly MySpace pages.
Email this Article:
Share this Article:
Oh No! The Sky Is Falling!
June 27, 2008
Environment
From the desk of Steve Connor, Science Editor of The Independent UK website, comes a startling announcement about the effects of global warming: the North Pole will be completely melted by this summer!
According to Connor, “…Ice is on course to disappear entirely from the North Pole this year.” He bases the prediction on statements from Mark Serreze of the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre, and research professor at the University of Colorado. According to Serreze,
From the viewpoint of science, the North Pole is just another point on the globe, but symbolically it is hugely important. There is supposed to be ice at the North Pole, not open water.
Chalk one up for the academics! These are the same folks who believe driving golf-carts everywhere will save the planet, and feel good about spending ten bucks on a cup of coffee. Genius - sheer genius.
Unfortunately, this article from Steve Connor doesn’t address some critical aspects of the environment at the North Pole. It is a naturally shifting block of ice which is rarely centered at the “geographic North Pole.” Submarine expeditions in the 1990’s revealed that the ice doesn’t seem to be dwindling, but actually getting thicker. Let’s not forget that there is consistent volcanic activity on the ocean floor beneath the Arctic Circle.
So it looks like there is no need to get out your high-waters and wading-boots just yet.
Email this Article:
Share this Article:
-
Did You Know?
One third of Americans identify themselves as 'Independent' when it comes to political affiliation. Don't let the Red and Blue fool you. It's okay to be Independent!
-
Sponsors
-
