MEMO TO GARY AUBUCHON
(continued)
Now that a lot of people have needlessly become the victims of thoughtless text-drivers, and unfortunate committee inaction, the issue is again before the Florida Legislature, but as your article warns, passage faces an uphill battle, subject partly to the wiles of (now) House Rules Chair, Gary Aubuchon, “with his substantial say-so on which bills move and when.” And Mr. Aubuchon already is cranking up for further inaction, with this lame quote: “Technology is moving so fast it’s likely that texting will soon be replaced with some other communication method, leaving states with laws that no longer reply.”
Mr. Aubuchon has a point. Texting is so new, that my Microsoft Word “spell-check” says the correct word is ‘testing.’ So Pass that wisdom along to the family of the late Myriam del Socorro Lopez of Miami, or to Rep. Irv Slosberg, D-Boca Raton, whose teenage daughter was killed by a teen driver while texting, “personal liberty” notwithstanding.
Texting and driving is the number 1 cause of fatal accidents in Broward County, state numbers show. According to a 2009 report, the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute released findings of their study of driver distraction in commercial vehicles: text messaging had the greatest relative risk with drivers of heavy vehicles or trucks being 23 times more likely to experience a safety-critical event when texting.
If advanced technology or improved mental telepathy soon will replace texting, fine, Mr. Aubuchon. But outdated laws can be stricken from the books quickly (even through one of YOUR committees). While Mr. Aubuchon’s assertion that “banning all cell phone use while driving takes away peoples’ ability to use their own good judgment ” is a paradox, I favor keeping cell phone use legal for now and banning texting, before anyone else gets killed.
Representative Aubuchon says it’s “too soon to say” what will happen if the bill passes the Senate and gets to the House. My bet is some important committee chair will vote for the bill before it “dies for lack of action.” It’s about getting re-elected.
