Proposed Legislation: Don't Game & Drive

[...] We’ve written plenty of times about the ongoing push to ban talking on the phone while driving. Drivers that are distracted by phone conversations are undoubtedly a problem, but the real problem isn’t them talking on the phone, it’s the distraction. Devoting laws to make specific distractions illegal seems rather pointless, when compared to enforcing broader laws that seek to tackle poor and reckless driving in general. But, it would seem, many states would rather try to ban distractions one by one. So, in addition to talking on the phone, driving while drowsy, smoking while driving, and using OnStar or other telematics systems while driving, some New York lawmakers now looking to ban playing video games and sending faxes while driving. This illustrates the folly of these distraction-specific laws. Once legislators go down this path and begin to ban specific activities, they’re in some sense obliged to try and ban every single distraction. After all, while most reasonable people would realize that it probably wouldn’t be a great idea to operate a fax machine while driving — but if it’s not specifically made illegal, like talking on a cell phone while driving, it must be okay, right? [...]

I think the law is stupid, but if people are actually doing it, maybe we do need it. Not to protect those stupid idiots, but to protect us humans with, you know, a brain. Otherwise I'd say let survival of the fittest play and let them die an entertaining and painful death

I think this law is silly, well sure I never had to send a fax on the road, bu… brb the light is about to turn green.

LOL! Well, at least this doesn't include printing documents or pictures in the car...hold on the printer cord fell out of the cigarette lighter when I inexplicably had to slam on brakes while editing my pictures for the email I'm going to send at the next red light.

[...] [Via GamePolitics] [...]

@Mauler

I think so to, imagine a law that only says "thou shall not drive distracted"

Just imagine if you where pulled over
Cop - Sir, I'm afraid I'm gona have to ticket you for driving distracted.
Person - Wha? what do you mean, I don't have a cell phone or even a radio here!
Cop - I'm afraid I saw you watch a girl as you drived, that's a $500 dlls ticket for being distracted.
Person - but the girl is on a poster on YOUR car!
Cop - Yes, it's an undercover op, suits you well, you crazy gamer.
Person - :(

To me, this law is only common sense. Honestly, playing a video game while you are driving? Isn't it like, important to actually pay attention while you are driving 'n' stuff?

"Driving without due care and attention" is against the law already, right? The law about "operating a mobile device while driving" is almost certainly phrased so that it doesn't specifically refer to phones. So the law already allows you to be penalised for whipping out your DS for some Brain Training while behind the wheel.

Frankly if you need to be told that you shouldn't play games while piloting a ton of metal traveling at one tenth of the speed of sound, you shouldn't be allowed a licence.

FAX while driving? Where can I get me one of these bizarre portable FAX machines? Does it make my cell phone emit crazy 28.8 modem noises?

It's kind of sad that driving under distractions doesn't just fall under common sense. Sure, we've seen all manner of idiotic behavior at 60 mph.

But rather than call out specific devices, maybe there should be a more general law about driving while clearly preoccupied with something else. If a person is drifting all over the road or seems restless in the front seat, police should just be able to pull them over. What does a law like this one accomplish? A cop encounters a distracted driver and says "Well, you're free to go. It was an Egg McMuffin, not a laptop"?

I've actually seen a driver, on an interstate, with her laptop open in front of her and resting on the steering wheel and her lap. I really wish I was making that up. While the law might seem silly on the surface, because nobody should be doing something like this, there are some really stupid people out there who SHOULD be taken off the roads and fined a bunch of money or have their licenses revoked.

This seems like a waste of time. Was people playing their Gameboy while driving really that big a problem? Really? I've heard of people reading while driving and women putting on make-up while driving more than I've heard of people gaming while driving. If you need to play a game so bad that you would do it while you are driving 80 miles an hour on the interstate, you are addicted. Or stupid. Very, very stupid. Maybe both.

They are banning using a fax machine in cars? Wait a minute, there are fax machines that could actually work in cars? When did this happen? I thought they had to be plugged into a phone line in order to work.

I don't really understand banning cellphones in cars. Personally, I drive 80% of the time with just one hand anyway. Beyond that, the only other excuse is that talking on the phone is a distraction. But by that logic, talking to friends/family that are in the car is a distraction. Talking to friends that are in the car with you is probably more of a distraction then talking to one over the phone. Want to ban driving with passengers? How about car-pooling?

@ Eli Mordino

It is better to ask for forgiveness than permission.

Just wish I remember who made that quote. It was near the birth of the US, during a time when people were arguing over how to interpret the Constitution. Long story short, one faction said "If its not in there that you can, you can't", and the other said "If its not in there that you can't, you can".

20 points to anyone that can help me remember who said it.

Sad to say, this is a law that is needed for only one reason. Time and time again, the Darwin Awards proove that humanity can find almost every avenue around common sense. Common Sense my tell you not to jump into the bear pen at the zoo just to get a closer picture, but it does not mean that it has not been done before. Remember, dumb laws are for the dumb people so that they dont kill us smart people with their stupidity. The law is not intended to save them, it is to save us from them.

Well, my suggestion may have been a little over the top, but I'm just saying that it IS a genuine distraction.

Say no to this legislation. Even though it's not the typical "OMFG GAMES R BAD 4 U N R SOLD 2 MINERS" legislation, this could open up a doorway for those types of laws to actually get PASSED. Besides, isn't there legislation already in place that makes it illegal to talk on the phone/eat something/whatever while driving, or is that just up here in Canada.

I think playing video games, using a fax machine, or using a computer while driving is absolutely INSANE. Though I do think since cellphones don't require next to zero attention its acceptable( don't have to take my eyes off the road and the road maintains priority). I however do see people that shouldn't drive while using a cell phone and certainly there are situations that I wouldn't talk on a cellphone such as in moderate to heavy traffic, durring rain or other hazardous conditions, going through narrow streets, parking and well any time where you actually require 100% of your attention.

But if there is little traffic, you're familiar with the area and you have the ability to stay focused on driving while kind of staying focused the road, the cars in front, beside you, and behind you and all pedestrians/animals/objects in front of you and beside you then I really don't see the problem. Some people can multi-task and others cannot.
I avoid quite a bit of accidents, especially in a town that doesn't require you to actually require you to drive to get your license. A written test is all that is required which I think is absolutely insane.

But anyway I think there are much worse things than cellphones. Like girls doing make up while driving, people having sex while driving, changing clothes, eating non finger foods or large finger foods, searching for a CD, yelling at your child, yelling at anyone, argueing, anything that requires you to look away from the road, lighting fire works(yea I've seen it before) and now video games/comptuers. Also if your going to do something while driving, do one. Don't smoke and talk on the phone, dont eat and talk on the phone, dont eat and smoke, don't smoke and drink ect.

Music and cellphones don't require visual aid and doesn't prevent you from moving your head to see if anything is in your blind spots. Cellphones can be hands free (either headset or speaker phone setting). So really I think there are many other things that harm your ability to drive much more than a cellphone and music. Obviously there should be limits you set on yourself like don't have an extremely important conversation while on a cellphone, don't argue or fight ect.

Just remembered the Simpsons episode where Homer finds out about in car gadgets and ends up filling his car with everything from fax machines to waffle irons. In short he ended up in the bay and lost his liscence. :)

Why is it required to specifically ban anything? Isn't it more sensible to outlaw consciously operating a distracting device, which is how my country and most EU ones do it?

ie: it is ALREADY illegal to play while driving here! >_

I've known someone who played their PSP while driving. Really, everyone who's saying this should be common sense is correct, but unfortunately, "common sense" is probably the world's most common misnomer: there's nothing common about it. I currently live in Maryland, which has the worst drivers I've ever seen, and as near as I can tell, there's not even a law against cell phone use in the car, I see it so frequently.

I think perhaps the legislation is approaching this from the wrong direction, though. Rather than outlawing specific activities while driving, I think perhaps the legislation that's needed is that, while driving, you must not operate ANYTHING else but the car.

I don't know how to drive yet, but I have played several racing games in my time.

What I do know, is that when I eventually learn to drive, I'm sure as heck being careful so as not to end up in a crash like the ones seen in Burnout.

Having realistic crashes in a game can be fun, but it also serves as a reminder (at least to me) of how dangerous reckless driving can be.

It baffles me that we need to have laws like this even debated. Playing games or trying to fax some one while trying is just plain out stupid, but I do have to point that some people used to make a living by driving and talking on a cell phone. I for instance used to deliver pizzas. If I couldn't find the place I looking for, you bet your ass I was on that cell phone.

That wasn't supposed to be an Email address...

Bravo. Should have done it sooner.

While common sense SHOULD indicate that most people wouldn't be dumb enough to not know that using a computer or game system while driving is completely stupid (not to mention a massive safety hazard/death trap), humanity has disproven any notion of having any common sense so often that this is a very welcome law, to me.

There is the possiblity that people are playing games while at stop lights and are distracted during those lulls. Premature take offs before the light changes or not responding at the appropriate time COULD feasibly lead to accidents.

And, silly as it may be, it is true that more than a couple of people have been caught watching DVDs while driving. Even adult DVDs. So it's not too difficult to image someone playing a game of some sort or using a computer or portable fax at inappropriate times as well.

Nightwng2000
NW2K Software

I can understand the cell phone legislation, as a huge amount of people use phones while driving and it is dangerous. Most people who do it will tell you that it isn't dangerous, or that they've done it enough so it's safe, but that's only true until the day that they actually do lose concentration on the road or the car in front while talking. Like drink driving, many people think that it's acceptable, they are only driving a short distance, the road is quiet, etc. and for this reason legislation should be upheld on cell phones in cars.

However, I find it hard to believe that they imagine legislation is needed to stop people from playing video games or using FAX MACHINES while driving. Picking up a cell phone, hitting ANSWER and starting to talk? Sure, I can see that happening, I've even done it once or twice myself when I shouldn't have. Using a fax machine? Or any kind of computer? That's just pure stupidity. That is like legislating against hitting yourself with a hammer, it's completely clear that using these things while driving is stupid and unsafe, whereas a cell phone seems acceptable.