Just what in the name of all that is good makes you think I don't try?

Acknowledgment <> acceptance. Different <> wrong.

If I could have made it any clearer that I am an advocate for personal responsibility, I'm unclear how

If you're capable of doing all that, continue to do so. Your multitasking gift will enable you to avoid accidents, and all will be well

You're right.. skim reading fail. I blame work. I missed your middle part:

We are in agreement here. It's just unfortunate we appear to be on opposite sides of the push-me-pull-you arena .

Well done though Tex, I commend you on your posts so far. Unfortunately I have to respectfully disagree with your Texting while Driving arguments .

As everyone can see, I am thanking Texrat's posts. Not necessarily because I agree with him... but having an intellectual debate with someone that doesn't get emotional and flame someone else for disagreeing is very refreshing and good for the soul IMHO. While Tex and I disagree, I can accept he has valid points and contributes a great deal to his side of the argument.

I wish this kind of debate could be had regarding the almighty N900 without the threads degrading into dribble. I'm just saying...

lol... do you remember when you first joined, fatalsaint? As I recall we locked horns right off.

Texting/Surfing/Handhelds while driving are already against the law in some jurisdictions. In the province of Ontario, we went handsfree in automobiles Oct 26, 2009.

Society evolves - we are moving to a "just say no" atiitude towards handheld use in Ontario. I actually think it is for the better. I think twice, for instance, about calling my wife while I know she is driving.

I'm more a fan of automating cars. Remove the many variables a human brings into driving (fatigue, skill, knowledge, experience, distraction, emotion, height, etc). Hey, once we automate cars then people can talk and text all they want.

Yes I do. The gun debate was one of my favorites as well (in any online forum I've ever participated in)...

The irony in that is... I may have posted one or two of those from my N810 while driving.... (many months ago everyone! it was legal back then )

Sorry, I missed this post, not meaning to ignore.

There's a continuity between my posts that maybe didn't come through. The point is about degree. You mentioned prosecutorial hurdles re texting; I'm acknowledging them. But such hurdles are not as high as prosecuting something as nebulous as reckless driving. Far more judgment in the latter... I didn't expect that I would have to explain that aspect.

As for bringing in our other bad driving habits-- again, texting poses an easily quantifiable and significantly higher potential for harm than fiddling with radio knobs or biting into a hamburger. And basic cell phone use is way up there too.

I don't have to rely solely on common sense to prove the point, either-- science is our friend here:

http://www.textually.org/textually/a.../03/019317.htm

The key problem here is in how the brain behaves. You barely detach when you turn a radio knob, yell at a kid or even puff on a cigarette-- but engage in a phone conversation, and it's a whole new ball game. Your brain disengages from the driving for too long a time, and creates a severe conflict for your visual processing.

Detractors are being highly disingenuous in disregarding the significance here.

Texting just takes this problem to a higher level. I'll be bluntly honest: it concerns me to no end that people defend doing that while operating a massive motor vehicle in motion.

Sorry, texting while driving is one of the absolute stupidest things a human can do and should certainly be illegal. And prosecutorial difficulty should not in and of itself be a barrier to implementation of reasonable laws.

The problem with such prior restraint laws, is that they empower a particular psychological clique with a mechanism for imputing all manner of unprovable conjectures. They also make great shakedown rackets....errrr....I mean revenue generators

However, in the event of an accident, if it can be proved that such activity occurred, then there is reasonable legal argument to suggest that this wasn't an 'innocent' accident, but one that involved willful negligence/recklessness.

No law can magically stop anything bad from happening.....but the realization of consequence can be a useful deterrent. Maybe some people wouldn't text while driving if you make it illegal. I would argue that far more would be dissuaded if they realized that their homes, belongings and economic future could be wiped out if they have so much as a fender bender while texting.

But I do agree with you that texting while driving is sociopathically stupid....with few exceptions for the gifted fighter pilots among us

Well.. even though I said you and I won't agree on the laws I'll continue for a bit.

First: I don't think Texting while driving is a good idea for the vast majority of people. I just don't think it should be a law to such.

For your argument about holding a conversation taking more brainpower than yelling at your child I disagree. Both require similar amount of cognition. Holding a conversation with the neighbor sitting next to me actually takes more of my thought than texting (there's a caveat explained below).. because I am focused on what they are saying, or what I'm yelling to my kids, or looking at my kids in the mirror instead of focused on the road.

The caveat is entirely with the keyboard of the device you use. I used to text-while-drive with nearly no problems at all (never any missed calls or swerving) with my Blackberry Pearl. I would read texts at stop lights, and responding while driving was easy as I used only 1 hand, and knew exactly where the keys where. Granted, not all my texts were sensible, but most of them came out fine and so did I.

Now I have the G1.. I texted while driving once with the G1. First I tried the big hardware keyboard and realized that wasn't going to work with one hand.. so then I tried the portrait keyboard where I can't feel the buttons.

I spent the majority of time driving and looking at my phone.. not the road. I'm not an idiot.. and even though I caused no accidents, I *did* have to correct my slight sway. I am no fool.. this no longer happens as I realize I can not do this safely with my G1. I could not do it safely with the N900. If I had the Palm Pre, however, the story might likely be different.

So IMHO, the risk of texting while driving increases and decreases with the type of phone you are using - and is heavily dependent on how responsible the person doing it is. However, a swerving vehicle is a swerving vehicle, no matter what the reason is. And this is where the "Reckless Driving" should be employed.