Ah, shallow politicians with simplistic answers:
New York, you've got nothing on Lawrence.
New York state made national headlines four years ago for becoming the first state to ban motorists from using cell phones. But a proposed cell phone ban in Lawrence would be tougher than that law or any other cell phone ban in the country, a national group that studies cell phone usage said.
The proposed Lawrence ordinance — up for discussion Monday by the Traffic Safety Commission — would ban the use of both hand-held cell phones and hands-free cell phone devices by motorists.
Distracted drivers cause accidents. Those distractions can be caused by fiddling with the radio station or CD player (or paying too much attention to the music), eating a hamburger or drinking coffee, putting on makeup, smoking and any number of other things, including talking, whether on a cell phone or to other passengers in the vehicle. Zeroing in on one distraction merely because it has gotten the most attention and annoys people is not exactly thoughtful governance.
