Distracted driving is a big problem. Waiting out a red light, we can't help but notice that most drivers speed by with a cell phone to their ear or just one hand on the steering wheel as they tap out a tweet. Their vehicles tend to swerve, speed up, or slow down depending on the content of that oh-so-vital conversation or e-message. "Sorry I rear-ended you, but I just had to get all the details on Edward and Bella's real-life break-up. Will this affect the final Twilight movie?"
Since there is no well-heeled lobbying group in favor of distracted driving, our legislators made it illegal to text while behind the wheel. Great idea. lawmakers! Making alcohol illegal sure worked out back in the 1920s. No one drinks anymore. As for the War on Drugs, all that cocaine and marijuana coming in from Mexico will rot away in those tunnels under the border when the word gets out that drugs are against the law.
If making distracted driving illegal doesn't work, what can we do?
There is a simple answer - Replace the automatic transmissions in our vehicles with the classic stick shift. It takes every bit of the driver's attention to engage the clutch and shift (or down shift) to the proper gear. Stall your car by starting up a hill in third gear just once and you'll concentrate more on driving than on the tweet about that rat Justin asking Tiffany to the prom. Burn out your clutch by shifting at 5000 rpm and your next cell phone call will be to AAA for a tow. Drift backward from a stop on steep grade into a burly motorcyclist and the damage to your body may exceed that to your car's body.
This is the classic win - win - win. No more distracted driving means fewer accidents and everyone's insurance rates go down. Replacing all those transmissions means jobs, jobs, jobs. Since standard transmissions increase gas mileage, oil imports are a thing of the past.
It has to work out better than Prohibition, The War on Drugs, a Kardashian marriage and other concepts doomed from the start.
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