The Nanny State Strikes Again

If you needed evidence of nanny state encroachment, Highland Park, a tiny, well-to-do enclave in Dallas, has enacted a cell phone ban in school zones which took affect yesterday.

Is there really nothing more important to do in Highland Park than worry about people talking on cell phones in school zones? How many people have been killed in school zones by people talking on cell phones?

There's no information supporting the idea that children in school zones are in more danger from someone talking on the phone than from someone changing CDs in their stereo or eating a Whataburger taquito, but that didn't stop University Park (another Dallas suburb) from enacting the same stupid ban today.

What has happened to my wonderful state? I mean, Texans tend to support smaller, less intrusive government and more individual freedom. You can carry a shotgun in plain sight here as well as kill intruders on your property...even if it's twice in the same month.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of busybodies (cue David Harsanyi here) who think we're too stupid to take care of ourselves. That's why you get sites like this one trying to rationalize yet another attempt to legislate common sense.

Personally, I see these new nanny laws as utterly unworkable. How do the police prove you were on the phone? Are they really going to subpoena your phone records for a $75 ticket? I doubt it. It seems like it would be easy enough to beat this ticket.

The truth is, you can't legislate common sense, and some people are not logical when they are behind the wheel of a car. That's why you periodically see the stories about people eating, hunting CDs, swatting their children, reading, applying makeup, or doing any of a dozen other things while driving a car. It's simple There's already laws against reckless driving. Just enforce those and you won't have to worry about whether the person was refereeing a fight in the backseat or talking on the cell phone.