The bombardment of regretful headlnes alerts us to a dangerously rampant trend in this country: "Redding Woman Sentenced in Texting Accident Death," "Texting Eyed in Crash that Killed 5 Teens," "Woman gets 6 Years for Texting Accident." Regardless, every day, cars barrels past at 70mph on the interstate highway, drivers texting on a cellphone with only occasional glances up at the road. Imagining it alone might make you cringe. It might not bother you at all. Now replace that small Toyota with a semi-truck and the cellphone for a laptop. Does it change things?
Truckers argue that it does. The front-page article, "Truckers Insist on Keeping Computers in the Cab" raises the practicality and morality of distracted driving in regards to truckers. Truckers use computers to get directions and keep in contact with dispatchers. Legislation that would ban all practices of distracted driving would affect truckers. Truckers are already under pressure to meet their deadlines despite weather conditions, keeping their sense of direction, and mechanical setbacks. They argue that pulling over every time they needed to use the laptopt would waste 10-15 minutes of their time: time they don't have to spare. I cringe whenever I see a person roaring in the fast lane, head down with an iPod in their hand. I can't imagine a trucker, someone who commands a very large, very fast, very heavy vehicle doing the same.
Beyond that, Monday's issue holds mostly international news: well-to-do Indonesian families stranded by their employees, opt for holidays at the end of Ramadan; 121 Chinese children test positive for excessive lead in their systems; attempts at mediating the political crisis in Honduras are outted by the de facto government; Palestinians and Israelis clash yet again, so on and so forth.
Yesterday, Iran, in a show of defiance against the U.N., test-fired 3 short range missiles. Besides upsetting and discouraging members of the U.N., the Obama administration has quickly reacted by gathering up allies and in composing sanctions against Iran. Interesting that Obama has focused his attention on Afghanistan policies, putting Iraq on the backburner. Will Iran prove another distraction for our government?
Truckers argue that it does. The front-page article, "Truckers Insist on Keeping Computers in the Cab" raises the practicality and morality of distracted driving in regards to truckers. Truckers use computers to get directions and keep in contact with dispatchers. Legislation that would ban all practices of distracted driving would affect truckers. Truckers are already under pressure to meet their deadlines despite weather conditions, keeping their sense of direction, and mechanical setbacks. They argue that pulling over every time they needed to use the laptopt would waste 10-15 minutes of their time: time they don't have to spare. I cringe whenever I see a person roaring in the fast lane, head down with an iPod in their hand. I can't imagine a trucker, someone who commands a very large, very fast, very heavy vehicle doing the same.
Beyond that, Monday's issue holds mostly international news: well-to-do Indonesian families stranded by their employees, opt for holidays at the end of Ramadan; 121 Chinese children test positive for excessive lead in their systems; attempts at mediating the political crisis in Honduras are outted by the de facto government; Palestinians and Israelis clash yet again, so on and so forth.
Yesterday, Iran, in a show of defiance against the U.N., test-fired 3 short range missiles. Besides upsetting and discouraging members of the U.N., the Obama administration has quickly reacted by gathering up allies and in composing sanctions against Iran. Interesting that Obama has focused his attention on Afghanistan policies, putting Iraq on the backburner. Will Iran prove another distraction for our government?
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