No, Let's Not Ban Phones in Cars [OPINION]

Tuesday morning I saw a story on our KDLT.com about a proposed ordinance that would ban cell phone use in cars in Sioux Falls. According to the story, a Sioux Falls city council member wants to expand the city's texting and driving ban to include any use of an electronic device while behind the wheel.

Having not seen the exact wording of the proposed ordinance, but only what I read in the news story, let me first say that a car itself is an electronic device. It’s also filled with other electronic devices like the cruise control that some people insist on setting at 58 mph while driving on I-229. It’s not worth it, drive with the flow of traffic!

Anyways, we know they’re talking about phones. And when we are talking about phones, we are really talking about kids and a generation gap fueled by seeing the grandkids bring the phone to the dinner table. Phone/texting bans are born out of fear of the future by of a generation passing out of power and knee-jerk Security Theater.

This discussion seems to be predicated on the idea that there was a magical day in 1998 when car accidents started happening. As if before ubiquitous mobile technology there were never any car accidents. There are a thousand possible distractions that a driver must deal with, the only purpose of laws like this is to give the impression of doing something without doing something.

Banning phones in cars will not make bad drivers into good drivers. Somebody that is stupid enough to be full-on texting while they are driving will continue to be stupid enough to dig around in their backseat, turn away from the road to look at a passenger, change their clothes, put on makeup, open a bottle of pop, eat a full meal or try and grab a CD off the floor while driving.

Another problem with laws like this is that they are nearly unenforceable and ripe for abuse. This technology is here to say and will grow. There is no going back to any olden days. It is increasingly difficult to function effectively in today’s world without a mobile phone. Nearly everybody has one, even if it’s an old flip phone. A self-congratulating political push will not make people stop using them. Or make the kids not be kids at dinner.

Debates about laws like this are also a great time to remind ourselves that our laws apply to everyone, all the time. They apply to people on important city business, even at stoplights, even when you’re in a hurry. They apply no matter what your last name is, who your spouse is or who you may know from school. The law is in effect even on deserted streets, even when the kids are calling you. Even when you’re late for that meeting and you just need to make a quick call.

This is where the possibility of abuse comes in. Safety laws like this can easily turned against the people. Will the law, from street enforcement to the courts, be applied the same to a self-important Sioux Falls person doing self-described important business as it will be to a young mom in a 2001 minivan who is delayed because of a traffic tie-up and has to call the daycare? Will a pair of Latino men pulling out of the drive-through on their lunch break be afforded the same benefit of the doubt as an older white man on his way to the tennis club? Each were just answering a quick phone call from home, is the family discussion of one more important than the other?

It’s not that the police are evil and out to get you, (in fact the SFPD is the best group of law enforcement people I have ever interacted with as a citizen. As somebody that has been pulled over, has been in an accident and had to call 911; they’ve always been positive and professional). It’s that laws like this that end up making every citizen a criminal. A criminal for using a legal device in its intended manner. A device that nearly everyone has and is a modern necessity. I can’t speak for them, but do you think the police want to spend their time and our tax dollars chasing around people on the phone?

Would a law like this effect IPod use? Will I risk breaking the law by listening to the latest episode of Never Not Funny? What about navigation devices? Tablets used by people that work out of their trucks? A flashlight is an electronic device.

I’m sure the supporters of this idea are genuine people that really care about public safety, and not a front for Big-Bluetooth. This is an important issue. It is imperative that our society drive home the point that driving isn’t easy, that drivers must pay attention. The better way to do this is through public information campaigns that encourage people to change their habits. If a person’s distraction is the cause of an accident that should be part of the legal and liability considerations. Criminalizing more people is not the way to do anything.

Heck, if we really want to work towards the safest roads possible, we should be pushing for the quick adaptation of driverless cars.

Chris Urmson, the head of Google's self-driving car program recently wrote, "Other drivers have hit us 14 times since the start of our project in 2009 (including 11 rear-enders), and not once has the self-driving car been the cause of the collision. Instead, the clear theme is human error and inattention. We'll take all this as a signal that we're starting to compare favorably with human drivers."

Driverless cars could be a real fix for all of this. The human passengers can pay attention to their devices and the car’s computer, which never gets tired or distracted, pays attention to the road.

No, Let’s Not Ban Phones in Cars [OPINION]