The End is Near

If you like doing stupid things like playing Russian roulette or talking on your cellphone while driving your car, go ahead and do it now. Why? Because soon it will be illegal (at least the cellphone and driving part).

U.S. Transportation Ray LaHood said as much in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

"The end game is to get cellphones out of (drivers') hands," said LaHood.

DOT is sponsoring pilot programs in Syracuse, New York, and Hartford, Conn., to ticket distracted drivers. In Syracuse, it'll cost you 180 beanos if you are caught talking and driving. In Hartford, it'll be a C note, plus costs. The program's motto: "Phone in One Hand. Ticket in the Other."

DOT's move comes on the heels of mounting evidence that cellphone use while driving results in dangerous distractions for drivers.

DWD (Driving While Distracted)

Readers of this blog have heard us carp for some time about the dangers of distracted driving. Now, the federal government is doing something to stop this nuttiness. Effective immediately, drivers of commercial trucks and buses will no longer be allowed to text while driving. Under federal guidelines that U.S. Transportation Department announced today, drivers of big rigs and buses may be subject to civil or criminal penalties of up to $2,750.

Now, if the feds would apply a similar rule to the rest of the drivers on the road, we'd all be much safer.