Isn’t this just going a bit far? Here was me thinking the nanny state had been buried at the last election (and cemented with the resignation of Bratford just recently – God help Auckland).

Gubbermints shouldn’t get involved in the little things, like you know, making Adventure trips “safe”…

So the *new* nanny state are going to ban using SatNav systems because the CEO of 2Degrees rear ended someone while looking at a map on his phone. Whoopdedoo.

• What about banning reading a map book while driving. Wasn’t a gubbermint minister recently busted for that? And didn’t he just laugh it off? Was he charged with anything? I think not…
• What about looking out the window sight-seeing? How any cars have gone off the road or into th epath of another car because the driver was looking at the country side instead of the road?…
• …Or scratching an itch on the inside of your nostril (yea right)…
• …Or applying make-up. I almost got collected once by a woman doing this on the motorway. And it was just us on this particular stretch when she wandered over to my part of the road…
• …Or drinking coffee. My daughter was hit by a driver recently trying to put his coffee back in the holder. And she was on a freaking pedestrian crossing.
• …Or smoking. This particular habit has caused plenty of accidents while the driver was trying to locate the ashtray, lighter or smoldering butt from between the legs….

In fact, nanny should just ban taking your hands off the steering wheel. Install sensors on the steering wheel that send an immediate alert to the police with your details so they can just send you the infringement notice. Why don’t the state just ban driving altogether?

On the way home tonight, I drove past an accident that showed two cars on their roofs. Judging by the skid marks and debris, these clowns were racing each other and the resulting carnage had nothing to do with changing the channel on the wireless.

But, as I was driving past, a string of cars on the other side of the road, as well as rubbernecking, practically every one of them was doing something distracting. 3 out of the list above in the first three cars, and another car driver was busily attending to someone in the back seat…

There is already a law in place that covers accidents due to inattention, no matter what you are doing…its called Careless Driving. There is absolutely no need to add another law that just can’t be enforced. What exactly is the point? Doe it make the pollies feel like they are doing something? I guess it is easier than fixing health or schooling or *real* crime.

Pop Quiz: When was the last time you saw a police car coming the other way? And was (s)he actually looking at you?

The fact is, driving is a dangerous pastime. And because cars and trucks these days are built for comfort, it is easy to forget that you are driving a two ton missile capable of killing 1 or more people at the slightest mistake or distraction or error in judgement.

Look, we all know you housebus and housetruck drivers are mad buggers, but, what do you think of taking the ol’ SB3 on a track day?