Voice of the Mid-Columbia | Kennewick, Pasco and Richland, Wash. |
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closeIt's time to toughen up on chatty Cathies.
People will continue to talk and drive in this state until Washington makes this dangerous practice a primary offense.
Now is a good time to make that call.
Our law says you can use your cell phone while you're driving, as long as you're using a hands-free device. But as of now it's only a secondary offense -- so you won't get pulled over when talking unless police have another reason to stop you.
And talk we do.
Apparently about one in three drivers is chatting away.
It's hard to talk and steer and dial and shift and text all at the same time. Something's gotta give.
Counter to what you might think, some studies show that talking on a cell phone is dangerous -- even with a hands-free device. The best approach might be to ban talking and driving altogether.
It would be a tough sell these days to get people to give up their phone completely while they're in the car, but it's time to at least get both hands back on the wheel.
Editorials are the consensus of the Tri-City Herald editorial board.
Editorial board members are Rufus Friday, publisher; Chris Sivula, editorial page editor; Ken Robertson, executive editor; Matt Taylor, contributing editor; Lori Lancaster, editorial writer; Shelly Norman, editorial writer and Jack Briggs, retired publisher
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