Talking on a cell phone while driving is permitted in Kansas. Texting isn’t.
Legislators have considered a law to outlaw verbal use of a cell phone on roads and highways. So far, the movement has not found traction. It should.
One day this week three drivers with one hand on their steering wheels and the other holding cell phones to their ears were noted on a short stretch of old U.S. 169 between Iola and Humboldt. At a stop sign, a fourth was so intent on a text message, a couple of toots of a horn were required to awaken the person to three cars waiting behind.
Tuesday morning, Larry Walden laid a cell phone on the table. The phone was a prop for him to propose a policy to discourage employees from engaging in private conversations while they were at work.
Commissioners agreed it was inappropriate for an employee, or a customer for that matter, to have in a private cell phone conversation in a place where business was being transacted, but had no immediate response about a policy.
CELL PHONES, among the multitude of devices that have resulted from advances in technology, are a wonderful tool and have applications in many venues.
Most conversations, as well as texts, occur in non-emergency and social circumstances. Having a cell phone handy when an emergency arises can saves lives and provide for earlier treatment of injuries.
They also come into play in any number of other situations, where immediate communication is important. Think of a flat tire or engine trouble on a little traveled road, at any time of the day or night; or, a business deal that may evaporate without a quick call. Cell phone data, retrieved in ways that seem to come directly from science fiction, has been the tipping point in criminal investigations.
As Commissioner Tom Williams said, use in a public setting “is just plain rude.” Seldom are there times when a cell phone should be pulled from pocket or carrier and answered without regard for others.
That includes those in offices and businesses and public events where a ringtone and conversation becomes a hindrance and, very often, an annoyance.
Legislators should find it incumbent not to continue to put off outlawing cell phones use by drivers, which is a distraction and can have a horrific outcome.
What is convenient shouldn’t be the golden rule, rather what meets the test of being better for the public good.
— Bob Johnson
