Laws
Yesterday the bill was signed which will make it against the law for any teenager to talk on a cell phone while driving. I like that law. It will take effect next July. And speaking of laws taking effect, the smoking law is finally up and running. Noone can smoke within 20 feet of our work building now. It is nice. They moved the "smoking bench" to the parking ramp.
posted by Melinda @ 11:40 AM
11 comments
11 Comments:
Congrats on living in a state that is against smoking. I am think Virigina hands cigarettes out as they grow "tobacca" here.
Arg...
Did I mention that my mom in law died of lung cancer 6 months before my wedding??
Cell phone rule is great too!
Dad says....Both good ideas. I hope they enforce them.
Oh man. I get thoughts of rage every time I see someone giggling on a cell phone while driving. People of all different ages. ESPECIALLY when they start talking on the cell phone JUST as they're getting into the car. It's like, couldn't you have had your conversation while you were walking all that distance across the parking lot? I think cell phones are best for emergencies, like if your car breaks down on the road.
The question now is how much the laws will be enforced. Already today there were two guys standing in front of the building smoking. I said something fairly loudly to the parking lot attendant (who I know well)along the lines of "hey look, there're still smokers standing there". The smokers glared so angrily at me. Then leaving work today, I saw a guy kicking his and some other's used cigarette butts under the dumpster. That's right UNDER the dumpster. Sad. But still. At least the law is in effect now.
I think that smoking law is going too far. I think people should be able to smoke outside by the building. A better option would be to have businesses designate a smoking area so smokers wouldn't leave a mess behind.
My husband is allergic to cigarrette smoke so I think it is important for them to be at the distance the law requires of them. The whole 2 minutes he might walk bye may ruin his whole day. Maybe if we make their habit expensive enough and really difficult, they might quit. That is what I would like to see.
I don't think the smoking law is going too far. Basically it says that they have the freedom to pollute their lungs and smell horrible if they want but don't let their bad habit get in the way of others. I hate walking through that wall of smoke outside my building whenver I leave. Not to mention, noone could ever enjoy the nice weather and sit on the nice bench by the garden of our building because smokers have overtaken it as their own.
Yeah. I say tax the cigarettes big time. And all that tax money (which I would not have to contribute to) could go to other stuff like fixing roads, etc. (stuff I would benefit from).
I dunno, how bad can the wall of smoke be if they're outside? Is it really so bad that you can't endure walking through it for a couple of seconds? People smoke outside my building too, and it's annoying because they throw the cigarettes to the ground, but the smoke itself is not a problem.
As for being allergic to smoke, that's unfortunate but society can't accommodate everyone's allergies. In most cases the person who has the allergy has the responsibility of watching out for themselves.
On the cell phone law, I agree with it but do have kind of a philosophical question: is talking on a cell phone somehow different than talking to a person in the car? Is it more distracting? If the law is about getting rid of distractions, then we should ban all kinds of stuff while driving. Some states ban talking on a cell phone even if you have a hands-free headset, which doesn't seem to make sense.
Sorry, too much coffee and I'm trying to avoid starting work.
People dialing their phone forces them to take their eyes off the road. Holding the phone and driving with one hand is also not a good idea. There are so many idiot drivers out there I hate thinking that most of them are driving with one hand. I'm good with the idea of a hands-free phone. (even though it still requires dialing)
Things like changing cd's, eating food, reading maps, and keeping your dog calm in the back seat cause you to take your eyes off the road too. But there's no law banning that. Again, rather than create new laws, just enforce the current ones better. Pull people over who aren't using their blinkers (was it because they had one hand on dialing a phone?)
Marilyn says ... Cell phone vs talking to someone in the car: On a cell phone, if a traffic situation comes up suddenly, you have to take a second to put down the phone or even if you're using handsfree, you'd probably take a second to tell the person to hold on. If you're talking to another passenger, they can see that there's some traffic you have to deal with and they won't expect you to just continue with the conversation.
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