More on NH Rep Belanger 's (R) HB103 "No cell phones for you" - Granite Grok

More on NH Rep Belanger ‘s (R) HB103 “No cell phones for you”

phone textingReminder: HB103 will be heard tomorrow at 10am in the Legislative Office Building

AN ACT limiting the capabilities of wireless communication devices in motor vehicles.  This bill requires the email and texting capabilities of a wireless communication device to be disabled if the device is moving more than 5 miles per hour. The restriction shall not take effect unless 2 New England states adopt similar legislation

Effectively, anyone in a moving car will have the ability to use a cell phone stripped from them.  In actuality, it probably would mean EVERY one would be stripped of a cell phone because why would an international cell phone manufacturer want to make a “one-off” for dinky NH (sales wise)?  They’d just write us off.  Yet, Rep Belanger thought this was such a SPLENDID idea – obviously not thinking of the ramifications of his bill.  I said that Steve and I had blogged this stuff before – the data is now being “hidden” under other “distracted driving” stats so we can’t argue against it but Belanger certainly can’t argue FOR it either on “just the numbers”.

‘Cept I found this nugget just now with some numbers (reformatted, emphasis mine):

The National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday released their 2015 “Most Wanted” list of top transportation safety improvements. The NTSB says that the list includes “critical changes needed to reduce transportation accidents and save lives.”  Four new items cracked the list and six carried over from last year:

1. Disconnect from Deadly Distractions
The NTSB said that since 2003 it has found 11 accident investigations were linked to distraction from portable electronic devices. Those crashes resulted in 259 people injured and 50 people killed.

OK, let’s be clear – “portable electronic devices” does not automatically mean cell phone” (e.g., think GPS units as another) but let’s go with it and let’s do the simple math.

  • US population is 320 million; NH has 1.3M.
  • NH percentage of the US population = 0.41% (rounded up).
  • 2003-2015;  a span of 12 years.
  • 259 injured + 50 deaths = 319
  • NH percentage of those injured and dead = 0.0041 * 319 = 1.31 (rounded up)
  • Per year in NH? 1.31 / 12 = 0.11 (rounded up)

So tell me, even using the Federal Govt’s numbers, this is a problem by which we all should lose our cell phones…..why?

Here are the others on the NTSB list – go to the link for a bit more info on each:

2. Make Mass Transit Safer

3. Improve Rail Tank Car Safety

4. End Substance-Impaired Driving

5. Strengthen Commercial Trucking Safety

6. Strengthen Procedural Compliance

7. Prevent Loss-of-Control in General Aviation

8. Implement Positive Train Control in 2015

9. Require Medical Fitness for Duty

10. Enhance Public Helicopter Safety

 

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