The Chicago City Council is proposing to ban text messaging while driving.
This seems like common sense--you can't drive very effectively if you're not even looking at the road, and you shouldn't be endangering pedestrians and other drivers just so you can tell your BFF "LOL!"
On the other hand, why is the city council bothering to consider, much less pass, such a law when the last "distracted driver" law they passed--banning talking on cell phones while driving unless a hands-free device is used--is barely enforced? I see dozens of drivers every day who yak on their cells while behind the wheel and have even seen police officers look directly at them as they drive by, oblivious to everyone and everything except the voice on the other end of the line.
If Chicago's finest haven't the capability or will to arrest drivers for the law that already exists, what makes the City Council think that they'll make even a token effort to enforce this proposed new law? Hell, I'd be happy if the cops in this city busted drivers for the more basic stuff that endangers my pedestrian ass every day, like the lack of turn signal usage (it's not optional, kids) or lack of attention paid to stop signs. (This morning, I saw three cars in a row cruise through a stop sign at a busy intersection like the sign wasn't even there--think they'd have tried that shit with Officer Friendly sitting at the corner with a camara, a radar gun and a desire to bust anyone not following the strictest letter of the law?)
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Any effort devoted to proposing and passing such a law is nothing less than a monumental waste of the Council's time, energy and taxpayers' dollars because, as you point out, our peeps in blue will not bother to police it. Many street cops have decided upon revolt. There is a certain blog where one will find many anonymous posts written by cops who declare they will no longer put their lives on the line only to have no official back-up should a tentative push become a decisive and necessary shove. If they've grown nonchalant about enforcing the law during heavy altercations, they certainly will turn a blind eye to drivers tapping out a text message.
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