Regulation Kills
By Mitch Berg
Laws against texting and driving – including Minnesota’s – perversely increase text-driving accidents:
HLDI studied collision claims before and after four states (California, Louisiana, Minnesota, and Washington) banned texting, and compared the data with crashes in nearby states where texting laws did not change. Thirty states, the District of Columbia, and Guam prohibit texting while driving, while eight states, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands prohibit the handheld use of mobile phones behind the wheel.
“Texting bans haven’t reduced crashes at all. In a perverse twist, crashes increased in 3 of the 4 states we studied after bans were enacted. It’s an indication that texting bans might even increase the risk of texting for drivers who continue to do so despite the laws,” said Adrian Lund, president of HLDI and IIHS. “The point of texting bans is to reduce crashes, and by this essential measure the laws are ineffective.”
The crash increases seen in the states ranged from 1% in Washington state to 9% in Minnesota. However, young drivers are more likely to get into crashes – accidents went up in each of the four states among those drivers after the texting laws took effect. The largest hike was 12% in California.
On the one hand, it might mean that there are 9% more texters. Or that 9% of texters didn’t hear about the law.
Or that text-messagers are taking such absurd measures to hide their texting from cops and other drivers that they are making themselves more dangerous than they’d have been otherwise.
They are, in short, not Happy To Stop Texting For A Better Minnesota.
Now if people won’t stop text messaging to avoid crashes, lawsuits and death, because they see it in their best interest (rightly or wrongly) to evade the spirit and letter of the law, how does the DFL figure they won’t work even harder to avoid being seen as making over $150K a year come tax time under a Mark Dayton regime?
October 1st, 2010 at 8:22 am
Safe bet C.I. Dayton has the CPA vote locked up. The most popular salary in Minnesota will be $149,999 if he gets elected.
October 1st, 2010 at 8:29 am
Kermit;
and 99 cents!
October 1st, 2010 at 9:13 am
One of the things that helped drive me out of the progressive fold was the tendency of liberals to pass laws that micromanage human behavior. Is texting while driving risky behavior? Clearly. Should legal sanctions increase if a driver has an accident while texting? I can go for that. Taking the next step is what loses me. Enforcing a no-texting law is difficult, if not impossible. And if the law of unintended consequences is holding, young drivers going to extra lengths to hide texting may be even more distracted.
A parallel situation exists in liberal bastions like San Francisco, where one of the city supervisors is trying to coerce McDonalds to get rid of Happy Meals because they allegedly lead to poor diet choices. Isn’t that the responsibility of the parents? And might it not lead to kids demanding McDonalds because it is forbidden fruit?
October 1st, 2010 at 9:52 am
golfdoc,
Great points!
You are correct on the parenting take, re: McDonald’s.
Any parent has to realize that their marketing has mastered the ability to hook kids on Happy Meals as early as possible. Ronald McDonald, the Hamburglar and the other characters, are akin to those in Sesame Street or Disney, albeit with a different message. Consequently, it takes a pretty strong demeanor to ignore or deny the cries of “I want McDonald’s” coming from the back seat every time you pass one, but every parent that is worth a damn, has to do so as much as possible.
October 1st, 2010 at 11:33 am
Isn’t it amazing all these people (progressives I mean) are “pro-choice” and hands off my body and in the bedroom but have no problems regulating just about every other fricken aspect of our lives. From childproof lighters (hey if a kid gets burned its a learning experience, besides the parents should keep it out of their reach anyway) to putting the “nutrition numbers” on my Mc’Ds fries and double quarter-pounder with cheese (jesus christ if I am going to McDonalds to eat I KNOW its not going to be good for me) to banning trans fats to smoking regulations and bans its like a police state almost sometimes. Next time some feminist says hands off my body you should say hands off my f’ing value meal you food nazi’s.
October 1st, 2010 at 11:46 am
Ben, kids like you are so screwed. I’d almost think it’s funny, but I’ve got kids of my own, and I fear for their future. I suspect Mitch feels as I do.
October 1st, 2010 at 12:01 pm
Kermit, I know. But I don’t plan on going down without a fight. That said, looking at my fellow university students I’m not going to lie, I fear for the future of this country if this crop is going to be running the country (or what’s left of it) in 10-30 years.
October 1st, 2010 at 4:04 pm
Kermit, if that happened, Dayton would work to “close the $149,999 loophole” and keep lowering the number until everyone was as overtaxed.
October 1st, 2010 at 5:13 pm
Sadly Andrew I think we’re all overtaxed already. Hopefully we haven’t reached the point of no return.
The mindless idiots that keep writing law after law just don’t understand Liberty, and how all these “Nanny State” laws that are passed each contribute to our loss of Freedom. The vast majority of us can take care of ourselves without the meddling or oppression of the government. We need a part-time legislature! Have them come in, get the limited business of government done, and go home to make a living in the private sector.
October 3rd, 2010 at 6:17 am
Basically the “ambulance chaser” lawyers you see on TV (who also contribute heavily to democrats) troll for accidents where the the other drive may have been texting. The Ambulance chaser lawyer subpoenas the cell phone log and cross checks the time. If evidence that the other driver was texting the ambulance chaser lawyer does not have to establish fault and gets 40% or more on contingency. Quite a racket. If it pays off they give money to sympathetic politicians.