Dear Editor:
It seems that some people believe that driving while talking on a cell phone is a risky thing to do and for some motorists that is true. For some people the act of simply getting behind the wheel and turning the key is risky. However, if a driver uses caution and common sense then talking on a cell phone while driving is no more distracting than doing any of the myriad other things which a driver does while operating a vehicle. In example consider the simple act of lighting a cigarette, changing the station on the radio or changing the C.D. track, checking some indicator on a panel which might light or simply checking the mirror or glancing over your shoulder before changing lanes. The ability to drive under all circumstances safely requires a considerable degree of coordination. Age and driving experience are things which also affect driver safety. The fact is that some people are better drivers than others. So should a law be passed which prohibits everyone from doing anything simply because some people lack the ability to do it safely? Based on that logic no individual motorist should be permitted to do anything in public more complicated than that which the least capable motorist is able to demonstrate the ability to perform safely and properly.
An important issue which needs to be answered in regard to the act of municipalities creating local ordinances banning talking on cell phones while the vehicle is in motion is simply stated [do municipalities have the legal authority to pass ordinances such as a cell phone ban?] If that was the case it would be impossible for motorists to know where they might or might not use the cell phone legally. Imagine if you will portions of Hudson County, where the boundary between towns and therefore the boundary between ordinances is nothing more than a line of paint down the middle of the street. It would be possible for people in two different vehicles only feet apart to be in cell phone communication, one in violation of the law and the other operating the vehicle legally. A simple right or left turn could change the status of the legality of any single cell phone call. Such a concept is the height of stupidity. If municipalities have the option of writing local municipal motor vehicle code then it is conceivable that some community could write a motor vehicle code which would ban the operation of motorcycles on local streets of that community as some in the community might believe that statistically vehicles with only two wheels are to dangerous to be operating on their local streets. Yet some other municipality might ban the dreaded S.U.V. since this type of vehicle is far more likely to be involved in a roll over. It would create a situation whereby the motor vehicle code would become a political football. I believe that it is only the state legislature which has the legal right to make motor vehicle code. Unless and until the state legislature passes such legislation, then the politicians of Secaucus and other municipalities are going to have to cool their jets. As I have other comments regarding the article entitled “Cell Phone Ban-not yet” space dictates that it will have to wait for a future edition of the Secaucus Reporter.
Michael Seyfried