Constantly evolving technology tests state legislators across the country, as they confront new challenges to governing and exacting requirements in the language they use to enact legislation.
Take traffic-related laws aimed at curbing reckless driving, speeding and other behaviors tied to motor vehicle accidents and injuries.
Georgia, for example, is decidedly in the mainstream in its texting-while-driving laws and tandem prohibitions concerning the use of phones while driving. All motorists in the state are flatly barred from using texting while behind the wheel. Additionally, drivers under 18 are not allowed to use cell phones, even hands-free devices.
A new device manufactured by Apple that has just hit the market will have many people -- including, especially, lawmakers -- scratching their heads. The iPhone 4S allows hands-free texting.
"Big news for drivers" is the stated reaction of the New York Times, which mirrors the response of many consumers across the country to the company's voice-activated personal assistant that lets a user send and receive texts while keeping both hands on the wheel.
How will this new development play with the laws that are currently on the books in many states, including Georgia? Most states with anti-texting legislation simply state that the activity is prohibited for any motorist engaged in driving, without language that considers whether texting is being done by a user who is not actually touching any device.
The debate is already escalating whether hands-free texting is less -- or, perhaps ironically, even more -- distracting than "regular" texting or other behaviors that compete with a driver's attention on the road.
The National Safety Council notes that, "Text to speech may have some benefits," but councils a patient attitude while further research on the matter is conducted.
Source: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, "Voice-activated phone could snarl texting laws" Oct. 30, 2011
