That's right, Mayor Nutter signed a law yesterday that banned talking on a cell phone while driving in Philadelphia. It's not going to be "enforced" until November 1, and it's only going to cost Philly 90 mil a year!
The move comes on the same day that a mini-van driving woman who was talking on her cell phone crashed into a Septa bus, injuring 16.
"Police said that the dramatic scene unfolded about 3 p.m. when the driver of the Plymouth minivan - who was talking on her cell phone - drove through a red light on Hunting Park Avenue near Kensington, and slammed into the No. 3 bus."Oh yea, because I always run red lights when I talk on my cell phone. Unfortunately, dri
vers will still be able to smoke a cigarette, change CDs, look in their glove box, shift gears, apply makeup, talk to a person in the passenger seat, or do one of another thousand things while driving.Not only is the law illogical and dumb, it also might be expensive as hell. Philly.com reported that state legislators in Harrisburg basically stated that vehicle code is their business, and if philly passed this law they would strip us of gas tax and highway and bridge funding to the tune of 90 MILLION DOLLARS. And we all know philly has that kind of money laying around.
So what to do, what to do?
Well first of all, in the philly.com article they quoted critic Philip J. Berg, an attorney, stating he will help anyone who gets citations for free. So we're gonna keep him in the Rolodex.
Also, it probably wouldn't hurt to e-mail mayor nutter's office and let him know you aren't happy. Here is the e-mail address: mayor.nutter@phila.gov.
We even drafted this letter for you, just to make it easier.
Dear Mayor Nutter,
I was recently informed of the law you signed banning drivers from using their cell phones. I think the law is ineffective and is just a feel-good law, as the real difference just comes down to responsible drivers vs. irresponsible drivers. Responsible drivers will be hurt by this law, while irresponsible drivers can still be distracted by many other things such as applying make-up, smoking a cigarette, or changing music.
Furthermore, the law is irresponsible as it could possibly cost the city up to $90 million in funds from the state government. During this time of economic recession, the city of Philadelphia cannot afford such a cut.
As a citizen and taxpayer of Philadelphia, I ask that you represent me in repealing this law.
Sincerely,
Take 30 seconds to paste that into your e-mail and fight the man!
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4 comments:
Pasted and sent :-) Good times.
I'm pretty sure Philly will make more than 90mil by enforcing that law. I'm from DC where they take cell phone usage very seriously and I know the tickets are ridiculously expensive.
It is better for drivers to shut up and drive anyways.
A quick search on the web revealed this article, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/02/AR2006030202112.html, which stated that in 2005 year DC handed out 6,000 tickets at $100 each for using a cell phone while driving. That equals $600,000 generated, far from 90 mil.
True, the article was written in 2005, but even if the number of citations or the cost of the ticket increased %600 since then, that still is less than 3 million a year.
I'm not sure Harrisburg would even enforce that cut, but it would truly be a disaster if they did for a law as useless as this one. As the above article states, cell phone use is just the poster child for irresponsible driving and an easy publicity booster for politicians.
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