Untroubled by thought, Fred Camillo is taken for a walk
Our local Republican representative to Hartford, Fred Camillo, posted on his Facebook page an announcement that he’s found time, after permanently preventing another mass shooting and stopping the abuse of pets, to turn his attention to the third-largest threat to Connecticut, distracted driving.
I am not – NOT – interested in a discussion of the merits of more laws on this topic:- that’s for another day. My point, for this post, is that my suggestion to Freddie that he look at actual data before legislating new laws that possibly were not needed was met by the universal response of politicians everywhere: don’t confuse me with facts, my mind’s made up. All I asked was that he look at what he was proposing to regulate before regulating it. No such luck, and no wonder our state’s in the mess that it is: Fred has 186 people just like him up in Hartford, deciding our fate.
Here’s the kick-off:
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Chris Fountain Two recent studies ** you might want to consider before spending more of our tax dollars on this: one, from Australia, found zero correlation between cellphone use and accidents (the researchers called the results of their study “counter-intuitive”, and I suppose they are), the other, by the Insurance Institute of America, found that the biggest cause of “distracted driving” accidents, by far, was not cellphone use or texting, it was daydreaming. Ban thought?
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Fred Camillo Well, Chris….having been hit by one, I disagree with you. It is a huge problem, one that cost the life of a local man jogging last year. As far as daydreaming, yes, I am sure that happens, too, but that is not our charge, nor will this study cost too much in the way of ” tax dollars”, as the task force members aren’t being paid extra for this.Chris Fountain But Fred, we already have enough laws and regulations on the books based on anecdotal “evidence” and guessed-at solutions; don’t add to them unnecessarily, is all I suggest. Do your study, but do your study. -
Fred Camillo Chris….I respect the difference of opinion on this, but have to go by what I see, and what law enforcement tells us. And yes, there are many laws and regulations that should be revisited and ultimately erased from the books. I totally agree with you on that, but this issue is one that is costing lives and ruining even more each day. I don’t think it is being based on anecdotal evidence, but on reality. The answer may be technological, but just as we don’t see people driving around with open containers of beer the way we used to, we must also discourage this cultural phenomenon that is threatening to be even more deadly. We take your position often on the floor of the House and Senate, but there are times when laws are needed. I believe this is one of those times
*Cell phone use may not cause accidents.
**Day dreaming is the top cause of distracted driving accidents, not cell phones, not texting.
