feeling fiesty

This stupid cell phone by-law has been bugging me for a long time. Tonight I was feeling fiesty so wrote an email to my councellor:

Good evening,

This cell phone bylaw has been bothering me ever since discussions about it began. Tonight I was driving home and decided to go through a drive-through and get a hamburger. As I was driving, holding my hamburger in one hand, I was talking to my daughter who was sitting in the back seat. And it dawned on me: how is this any different than me holding a phone in my hand while talking to the person on the other line? Both involve one hand off of the wheel, and both involve conducting a conversation.

Please don't give me any literature on how studies have been done proving that cell phone use while driving is distracting. I've heard it all before. And I haven't heard of any studies on eating hamburgers wile talking to passengers. (Not saying it hasn't been done, but you'd think if it had we would have that banned by now too.) My point is there is a number of other things that are equally as distracting to a driver. Should we shut down every drive-through then? Make that illegal too? Or maybe make it mandatory that all drivers have Plexiglas installed around them so they are not distracted by the chit-chat of their passengers?

I realize this probably sounds ridiculous, but I find the cell phone by-law equally as ridiculous.

Anyway, I had to have my voice heard. I know the law isn't going to change because of one person, but I also wanted my council to know that not EVERYONE thinks banning cell phones while driving made sense. Here is one resident that just doesn't get it.

Angela Ayers