Text alert: Ban passes 16-1
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- December
- 17
The County Legislature passed a ban on texting while driving last night, 16-1.
Yup, 16-1. County Legislator Gerold Bierker, C-Bardonia (yes, he’s the only Conservative Party member of the Legislature, but caucuses with the Republicans) voted against the ban.
So, I called Gerry as to why he voted against. He pointed out the proposal that police officers were granted an exemption. Why should they be able to text and drive. He pointed this out as part of the “idiocy of the law.” He also didn’t like the original cell phone law. He points out that there are laws against distracted driving, which should cover talking on a phone or texting. “We have serious stuff to deal with, and we’re playing with this,” he said.
When the Editorial Board endorsed in his 2007 re-election bid, we cited his own words: “I have the vital role of being one who doesn’t necessarily go along with the tide.”
Now, it sounds like a silly law, but here’s the deal: When a ban on driving while talking on cell phones was passed, in 2001, not many were texting, so it wasn’t really on the radar. Now, people drive and text, and then, crash. OK, some don’t crash, but really, think of what can happen in the span of time it takes you to type BRB … you might not be!
The state Legislature has several bills pending to do the same thing, but Rockland legislators didn’t want to wait. Well, 16 of them anyway. And Vanderhoef still has to sign it.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, December 17th, 2008 at 5:54 pm by Nancy Cutler.
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When will the “No reprogramming your GPS while driving” law get passed?
By creating new, specific laws targeting particular actions, the legislature, in effect, condones other equally distracting behaviors. (“I wasn’t texting, I was programming new numbers into my cellphone!”)
Considering two guys in Bedford ended up stuck on railroad tracks because they followed their GPS, you may be onto something.
Nancy