I'm not sure if it has been mentioned here or not yet (a cursory glance
at the recent threads didn't turn up anything), but last Thursday eve,
6/2/2005, the CT State Senate voted in favor of a ban on the use of
cellphones while driving unless a headset is worn.
It has been reported that Gov. Rell plans to sign the (IMO) ill-conceived
bill and make CT the second (or third, depending on how you look at NJ's
law) state to enact this sort of silly, heavy-handed, and paternalistic
legislation which will likely result in more severe distractions (and
thus potentially more harmful accidents) than the "problem" which it
attempts to cure.
I've set up an "Action Alert" on an older demo system which we have which
allows respondents to enter their name, e-mail and/or postal address
(maybe Gov. Rell will write back? ;) ), and immediately send out a
pre-written fax in opposition to the ban.
If you prefer, the letter may be edited/customized/augmented to make it
more personal and thus more closely reflect your own viewpoint.
To send Gov. Rell a letter about the ban which urges her to veto it,
please go to:
Residents of CT:
If the above URL's do not get you to the correct page (VERY old browsers
may have trouble with the direct link, and some devices with Palm OS
don't seem to be able to connect there), you can go to
http://www.lobbybyfax.com and select the appropriate ID from the main
page. (I'll put it ahead of all the other test and demo alerts which we
currently have.)
When you get to the correct alert, select "Connecticut" from the
drop-down menu (the other states are obviously not relevant here as they
may be in more nationally-oriented alerts), check the "Gov Jodi Rell" box
(it is the only box in this specific alert since she is the only person
who we are faxing to), and press "Next". You may then send the letter as
is, or edit it as you wish, and when done, click "Next" again, and it
will be immediately faxed to the Governor's office.
A few notes:
1. This is an older, demo system with a generic front/main page, and some
other alerts as well. Feel free to respond to them but we allow only a
few per week per person so make sure you do the CT Cellphone Ban one first!
2. We filter out any/all inappropriate language, so you are wasting your
time if you want to be an 8-year old and play silly word games, and the
Governor will NOT receive your fax if there is even one word in it which
should not be used in polite conversation.
3. This is a public service (or a self-serving public service ;) ), but
it really has nothing to do with Interpage NSI other than no one here
likes cellphone bans or wires all over the car as a result of tangled
headsets. It may not be up all the time, and it may not work as fast as
production models. (Hey, the paying customers get priority! :) )
4. I don't read the incoming mail, so if you are one of these people who
sits in front of a computer with nothing better to do saying "Anything
you do in the car is unsafe and you should be shot and deserve to die if
you don't drive with both hands on the wheel like the Ms. Prissy (eg,
from Foghorn Leghorn) that I am with the little blue bonnet so tight that
sufficient blood obviously doesn't get to my brain" then save it. I don't
care, and likely never will, so don't waste your time. (I haven't posted
here in a while but I remember there was some girl(?)/woman(?) who just
sat around and essentially said "Everyone must drive at 55 or if they
don't they deserve to die" or something ludicrous so if you are like that
*please* save yourself the trouble since your words are unimportant and
we do not hear them (I heard that somewhere a long time ago :) )
5. We do not sell, solicit, spam or pay much attention to who you are or
your e-mail address. This really is for free and we will never contact
you, that is, this is not some attempt to get valid e-mail addresses to
sell to spammers. We also don't benefit financially from the veto, but
the roads of CT may be safer since I'll only be looking over my shoulder
SOME of the time - at exists - to watch out for speed traps, rather than
ALL of the time lokking for "cellphone police" at every street corner if
the bill passes! :)
ANYHOW, I know it's a long shot, but it's free and maybe if a sufficient
number of people respond the Governor will take notice and realize that
passing the bill may not go as un-noticed as she seems to hope it will.
Good luck!
Regards,
-Doug
http://www.interpage.net
With any luck this post should also appear on an archive of all my other
ramblings about nothing of importance at:
http://www.wirelessnotes.org
http://www.lobbybyfax.com/lobby/selectstate.asp?alertid=26
Non-Residents:
href="http://www.lobbybyfax.com/lobby/selectstate.asp?alertid=27
(510) 315-2750