Now this comes after the Texas legislature voted to pass what would have been the state’s first law against texting while driving, 124 to 16, as Pamela Kripke reports for the Huffington Post. But Texas Gov. Rick Perry – who many consider to be a possible GOP presidential candidate – vetoed the bill because it would “micro-manage” drivers.
As Kripke correctly points out, do laws against drinking and driving micro-manage drivers? Do such laws interfere in Perry’s apparent hands-off approach to governance and regulation? Apparently so, at least when it comes to Perry and his possible run for U.S. president on the Republican ticket.
But most Texans would not support the repeal of drunk-driving laws. Neither would any Texas politician that we know of. After all, Texas’s criminal laws are known to be some of the toughest in the country – and if it’s a drunk driver who causes the death of others on the road, they’re tough for good reason.
Why should texting while driving, and other forms of distracted driving, be any different?
We’re personal injury attorneys with a focus on representing people injured because of truck driver negligence. We know that big rigs are 40,000 pound machines with drivers who are just as susceptible to distracted driving as any other driver. And the consequences of a trucker who takes his or her eyes off the road to text can be catastrophic, given the size and weight of the 18-wheeler as it hauls its load down the highway.
From the perspective of someone who wants to travel safely, Perry’s veto makes no sense.
(Unless, of course, you want to appear completely averse to government regulation.)
Source: Huffington Post, “Rick Perry is Putting My Daughter in Danger,” by Pamela Kripke, 06/30/11