In the mid-1940s, the first generation of mobile telephones was introduced to the world. These required large base stations within an area that would service the cellular devices within specific spheres of coverage.
Car phone service has been available to human populations since the early 1970s.
Yet, after decades with this technology as a part of human existence, the government of Saskatchewan chose this month to implement a new law making it illegal to operate a vehicle and hand-held phone device at the same time.
I’m all for safety. Heck, I wear flip-flops in my own shower. However, this new law seems a bit like legislating common sense and thrusts my civil liberties doomsday clock to about 11:57 p.m.
Perhaps this is just my own experience, but it seems to me there are times where using a cellphone while driving is rather benign, while there are other times it’s moderately stupid.
For example, if I’m on a long stretch of four-lane highway, it seems reasonable that I might consider using a cellphone, all the while being willing to abruptly end my conversation if some situation arises on the road.
However, driving along busy Main Street Moose Jaw during a snowstorm with pedestrians slipping on the ice all around me might not be the wisest time for me to give some college buddy a dingle to catch up on old times.
Isn’t there already laws requiring motorists to drive with due care and attention? Shouldn’t that be enough to cover this whole cellphone safety thing without more traffic rules for police to enforce?
Perhaps driving with a cellphone in one hand is distracting, but so is picking a song on one’s iPod, picking a new radio station, picking one’s nose, chewing gum and sipping coffee. Will these become illegal too in the not-so-distant future?
Certainly passengers simply talking in cars pose dangerous distractions for drivers as well. Maybe police should charge people for having any conversations while behind the wheel. Heck, why not just make it illegal to daydream while driving?
Maybe I have a bit of the libertarian edge flowing through me, or perhaps it just annoys me to think I could likely get one of these hefty new $280 fines (accompanied with four demerit points), but I am not thrilled about the new cellphone rules.
However, I suppose I shouldn’t get too upset. This is just the way things go. I remember getting a fine when Alberta started implementing its law against riding in the back of pickup trucks. At the time, I was furious and felt utterly wronged by what I believed to be an unjust law, but I never again rode in a truck box.
I guess it’s probably safer for Albertans now that they must ride inside the vehicles. Although this rule might take certain rights away from people, it may also save lives.
As I sit at my computer (typing this column and gritting my teeth), I’m forced to admit the new cellphone laws in this jurisdiction will probably save lives too.
It’s important to keep things in perspective. Saskatchewan is still a long ways off from becoming some Orwellian nightmare. In fact, this province is probably one of the best places to live on Spaceship Earth. Really, once I calm down, I’ll realize the new phone rules are more a mere inconvenience than anything else.
Perhaps it’s time the scientists and engineers of this world invented cars that drive themselves. That way, we could be as distracted as we want and still get to our desired destinations without risking health of incurring gigantic penalties.
I suppose one could just walk or take a bus in the meantime.
Carter Haydu can be reached at 691-1265.
