We live in a law-abiding society
Published July 1st, 2009It’s good to see that the ultimate decline of civilization into anarchy isn’t quite here yet. I guess I’ll keep putting money in my 401K and trying to be a good person. That’s pretty much all I get out of a recent study by the AAA. They looked at cell phone use in California since the laws outlawing hands-on phone use and texting while driving went into effect. What did they find? That the frequency of hands-on phones and texting decreased. So you see? People are still honoring the social contract. So what?
Seriously, so what? I mean - what if people weren’t following the law? Then what? The CHP has issued 112,000 citations - about 6% of the total citations issued. I guess that means slightly more - but not much more - revenue for the great State of California. Obviously, it wasn’t enough of a cash infusion to make much of a difference. So, wait, why did we pass these laws? It wasn’t to generate a ton of revenue. It wasn’t a social experiment to see if people will follow new and inconvenient laws. It was to increase safety on the highways.
So, AAA, where is THAT study? Since the laws have gone into effect, has there been any significant decrease in auto accidents? In frequency OR severity? Anything? That’s the study I want to see. It’s wonderful that people follow laws (hooray for us) but the real question is whether or not the laws have done ANY good. That question remains unanswered.
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