The Journal & Courier’s story on the proposed cell phone ban. It has all of the standard elements. The “man on the street” angle:
It’s not a habit she’s proud of, but Danielle Green doesn’t think twice before answering her cell phone or making a call while driving. “I know I should be more careful. We should all be more careful — practically everyone has a cell phone these days,” said Green, 34, of West Lafayette. “I’ve seen people swerve while they’re talking on the phone, and I’ve probably done it, too. It’s not a good thing.” . . .[description of cell phone legislation] . . .Green thinks the proposal has some merit. “If it’s going to help people pay attention to the road, especially if they have kids in the car, then, yes, I’m for it,” she said. “But I still wonder, is wearing a headset going to help?”
Then it hits the “there are other distractions, where is it going to end” angle and talks to a few law enforcement officials. The jist: cell phones make driving more dangerous, lots of other things make driving more dangerous, cell phones are the hot topic so lets do something about them. Oh, and a relatively new angle: Europe! “Such bans are already common in most European countries, and Nokia, which is based in Finland, has not seen a falloff in its business in that part of the world[.]” Don’t trot Europe out unless you’re prepared to explain how much better European public transportation is than that in the U.S. If I could catch a train to wherever I wanted to go, I wouldn’t spend so much time in the car.
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