30 days in the hole [was: I ate a sandwich in a car in the UK]

[Fringe Ryder <fringe@fringeweb.com>]

Okay, there's one example, but again, in America daily commutes can be over
100 miles round-trip just to the office.  Most of it is either wide-open,
no entry/exit, light traffic, or is 5mph.  Either way, not a lot required
and pretty low risk.

You have taken the typical British extreme view of "the government should
protect the people from other people".  The American model is "people are
responsible for not hurting each-other.  If you violate this, THEN we take
away your rights and punish you."

For example, the British have effectively and progressively banned guns.
Oddly, the British gun-homicide rate has accelerated it's climb during this
process, while the opposite has happened in America.

If the salesman were informed that, should he run into someone while doing
something else while driving, he would spend his life in prison even if
they weren't killed, he might have made different choices.

However, "two" seems like a reasonable limit.  Either sip your soda, or
munch a burger, or whatever, while in a safe driving situation.  

In California, the law used to be (I have not checked recently) that both
hands must be on the steering wheel or otherwise engaged in driving, or
else you could be cited for reckless driving.  I'm not aware of this being
enforced though; it's probably like the knife-blade length limit, which is
used only to trump up charges to improve the plea-bargaining position.  But
this does, in theory, give them license to ticket you for doing any one
thing while driving, if you seem to be presenting a danger.

>Date: Sat, 22 Aug 1998 17:49:09 GMT
>From: quk@isham-research.demon.co.uk (Phil Payne)
>Subject: 30 days in the hole [was:  I ate a sandwich in a car in the UK]
>
>In message <s5dea3c4.004@mannlawfirm.com> "Bruce Aukerman" writes:
>
>> I particularly like the update on traffic laws in the UK.
>> $40 for using a phone; walkin' papers for snacking while driving?
>
>No - walkin' papers for doing _any_ _two_ things while driving.
>
>> Call me crazy, but I really don't want our traffic cops
>> stopping to write tickets for taking a business call;
>> or inspecting the vehicle for Super Burger wrappers.
>
>I am quite happy.  The final trigger was a yuppie salesman who left
>a hotel mid-morning and got a GSM "call-back" message as he left the
>car park.  He dialed 121 as requested, got a message asking for a call
>to be returned, and returned it.  Of course, on a digital network
>all of these calls were time-stamped to the nearest hundredth of
>
>a second.
>
>We therefore know the exact moment a family of five coming the other
>way died.
>
>Anyone driving a vehicle who diverts 1% of their attention away from
>that task - bearing in mind the consequences of their inattention -
>deserves everything the law can throw at them.  This isn't a "personal
>freedom" issue - the family coming the other way has rights, too.