The right wing is blasting U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood for seeking to violate our rights.
What outrageous action has LaHood advocated? LaHood, a vocal opponent of distracted driving, last week said that someday the government may mandate that devices be installed in vehicles to block cellphones from working in cars, so that idiot motorists stop chatting, texting and killing innocent Americans.
“There’s a lot of technology out there now that can disable phones, and we’re looking at that,” LaHood said in an interview.
That comment got Michelle Malkin, a conservative columnist for the conservative New York Post, all riled up on Saturday.
“Will the cellphone banners outlaw radios, GPS devices, makeup and fast food in cars next?” Malkin asked. “They’re all also listed as causes of distracted driver-induced accidents.”
She also griped about the 30 states that have passed texting or cellphone bans for drivers. Malkin then tried to bolster her case by citing a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which found that non-texting states had higher accident rates for young drivers than states with no bans.
I wonder how many other freedom-depriving Malkin objects to when it comes to vehicles. I wonder how she would have reacted when the idea of seatbelts being installed in cars was first broached. What, restrain a person in their own vehicle? After all, there are cases where a seat belt can injury a car passenger in a crash.
And I assume she is against laws that mandate that motorcyclists wear helmets.
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: Your rights end when they put me, my family, my friends and the rest of America in danger. If some morons can’t get it through their thick heads that it’s dangerous to text and drive, I guess maybe it is a good idea to have mandatory devices that disable cellphones in cars.
And aside from the tragedy that distracted drivers cause, they also cost taxpayers money, raising our insurance rates, damaging public and private property, and putting people in hospitals.
Miss Malkin, you accuse LaHood of “controlling lives” rather than “saving lives.”
Call it whatever you like: Public safety trumps a CrackBerry’s sick addiction to their fancy phone.