Shifting Culture: Laws against texting while driving
This week, the Grand Forks City Council passed a law that makes it illegal to send text messages while driving. I’m glad the ordinance passed — and it certainly took them a while. For some time now, in the state of Minnesota, it’s been illegal to text and drive. I hope such laws mark not just forward-thinking government but the beginning of a true cultural shift against the use of cell phones while driving.
Though in Grand Forks, a texting-while-driving citation will only cost you $15 (yes, North Dakota fines are ridiculously low!) a fine in Minnesota can range up to $131. In fact, this week, the Ramsey County Sheriff’s office launched a two-day crackdown on texting or emailing while driving. Lawbreakers (I won’t call them “illegals,” but think about it) received a warning on Thursday, but if caught Friday, will receive a ticket with a fine. In Minnesota, it’s also illegal for those under 18 to talk on a cell phone while driving.
I’m in favor of such laws, because I believe common sense — and scientific data — points to the fact that looking at a cell phone and using one’s hands to type a message with a tricky little keyboard is not in any way conducive to safe driving. Or to put it another way: when you text and drive you endanger yourself, other drivers, and any cyclists or school children nearby.
And if the data doesn’t convince you, surely these stories will. Backpacking Dad (a friend of a friend) tells in “Why I Won’t Text and Drive” how he often texts and drives, but for some serendipitous reason he abstained yesterday and consequently avoided a head-on collision with a swerving driver. So sadly, Chris wasn’t so lucky. His story is told in the post, “Honor Chris today – Pledge to never drive distracted again” Chris, a young father, died after a collision with a driver who was texting. The texter crossed several lanes of traffic, and police officers found an active text message on her iPhone at the scene.
Texting and driving kills. But we do it anyway, some folks justifying the dissonance to themselves as Backpacking Dad did, saying, “I’m a good driver.” Others of us know it’s dangerous, but that knowledge just isn’t enough to stop us.
A few years ago, I lived in Scotland for a year. Driving laws there are much stricter than the U.S. (and, ironically or not, people are way better at driving in the first place). In Scotland, it’s illegal to text and drive, because it’s illegal to touch a cell phone at all while driving (handless systems are allowed). It’s also illegal to eat while driving — which makes sense to me because it’s dangerous to try to eat a burger and fries and drive at the same time, no matter what fast food restaurant lobbyists might argue.
(As an aside, Grand Forks city council member Tyrone Grandstrand is noted in the Herald as saying, “he wouldn’t want to ban talking on the phone or combing your hair or eating a burger while driving, things that may be a bit distracting, but is not sufficiently dangerous to require a law.”)
As I understand U.S. history, drinking and driving has been illegal for a hundred years, but prior to the 1970s had a much higher blood alcohol level designation (.15) and was rarely enforced. Back in the day, even when DUI or DWI was enforced, it was seen as a minor offense. But in the 70s, thanks in large part to a campaign by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), laws were strengthened and a cultural shift occurred. DUI is now a significant offense with quite negative consequences in society. DUI carries large fines, and though laws vary by state, can lead to jail time, huge fines, and suspension and losing one’s license.
So I hope the laws against texting and driving in Minnesota and Grand Forks signal the beginning of a larger movement. Though I’m not aware of a large movement like MADD’s against DUI, perhaps that’s just around the corner and a cultural shift is coming. Either way, think twice, hold your thumbs; it’s a matter of life and death.
Update: Check out this great application OTTER that has some real potential and fancy-cool usability options. Thanks, Erik!
image by Michal Zacharzewski
Citizenship and the merits of dead trees
Maybe I’m becoming an old fuddy-duddy, but in recent weeks I’ve found myself speaking glowingly for the old-fashioned dead tree paper edition of the local newspaper.
No, it’s not that I think the Grand Forks Herald is a particularly stellar paper, anything but that. I do think it’s unfortunate, however, that subscribing to a local newspaper has become anathema to twenty-somethings. So much so, in fact, that I’m finding my usually optimistic perspective challenged by my peers’ reading habits, or lack their of.
To put it in a phrase: I read the local paper to better understand my neighbors. For me, it’s a question of ethics and ideas. And despite the helpful use of Twitter and blogs, in this town of 50,000 there’s no better way to follow local happenings than the newspaper. From letters to the editors to school board meeting reports, from traffic ticket statistics to mosquito spraying schedules, from stories of local movers-and-shakers to those on a small disc golf tournament nearby, the paper informs me of local goings-on and local perspectives in ways unparalleled by other media.
Maybe if I worked at a big office the local gossip I might pick up there would suffice. Or maybe if I listened to North Dakota radio stations or watched the TV news I could live without my paper. Maybe if I lived in a larger news market, I wouldn’t need the newspaper. But as my life is, were I to cancel my subscription I feel confident I would become a poorer citizen and pastor.
For example, earlier in the summer I voted in local elections of which I wouldn’t have known were I not following the candidate profiles and studying the sample ballot in the paper. Similarly, this week’s Forum Communications series, “Running with Oil” on the North Dakota oil boom is fantastically informative on a state issue (out west, mostly) I could easily overlook otherwise.
Let me be clear, I’m not exactly praising the quality of the paper, bless its heart. The website is horrendous, partly making the dead tree edition so superior. The local stories are fine, but certainly often of questionable quality and the coverage beyond local and state issues is paltry. Most editorials are too mainline, non-confrontational, and safe. I’m not praising the Grand Forks Herald for Pulitzer quality work, I’m praising them for a product that gets the job done — informing me of local happenings, keeping local politicians on their toes, shining the light of scrutiny where their resources can manage.
When I was in college at St. Olaf, the student government funded a program that put racks of free newspapers in every dorm and student hangout area — the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal, if my memory serves me. You’d see college students hanging out waiting for friends while reading up on the news. It was a beautiful site. Surely many college students today read their national and international news, like me, online and through internet-based news aggregators. But nothing beats that dead tree at my doorstep each morning, informing me which roads are closed on my morning commute.
image by Kay Pat
Non-church miscellany
This post is not about General Assembly. Neither is it about Presbyterians, or even Christianity. Thank you, blog readers, for sticking with me through some heavy PC(USA) polity and politics. Instead, this post is about three things (which, I promise, has nothing at all to do with the fact that some sermons have three points.)
1. Living in Grand Forks, North Dakota has its perks — no, really, it does. For example, for eight months out of the year you don’t have to worry about ice cream melting in your trunk on the way home from the grocery store. Actually, in seriousness, I’ve found another.
I receiving a parking ticket a few weeks ago for parking on the street outside our apartment on day the city does road cleaning. Having lived there for a year and unaware of the Monday no parking policy, I called the city to complain. Before I could get an angry word out, the nice guy I spoke to said, “Well, we’ll be happy to forgive your ticket. As a courtesy, the city council has a policy to forgive any questionable first time tickets, so let’s get this erased.” And in about a minute, we did.
2. You big city folks will not believe this next story. Yesterday I was working at the church in Hallock, Minn. and made a phone call. On accident, though, I switched the numbers and ended up … Continue Reading
Big Grand Forks News: Fighting Sioux nickname, logo is retired
Big news in Grand Forks today: the UND “Fighting Sioux” nickname and logo is being retired. After decades of discussions, it’s done. The ND board of higher education voted yesterday, and President Kelley now begins the process of deciding on a new logo and nickname.
As you might imagine, this decision is just a wee bit controversial. A new Facebook group has already announced a protest and picture to occur today at 2:30 p.m. at the Ralph Engelstad Arena (that’d be the hockey palace in town).
I really don’t want to debate the merits of the decision in this post, as I’ll be away from my computer this weekend, and it’s not like I’d actually shed any new light on things. This wikipedia article covers the issue in general.
My outsider’s point of view over the last few years is that, eventually this was bound to happen. Different sides will call it different things: progress, political correctness, scoffing at history, racist or overly sensitive, and any number of other things. But since a NCAA ruling a few years ago, the Fighting Sioux logo became a liability both financially and in terms of UND’s national reputation.
Growing up in Tallahassee — home of the Florida State Seminoles — I’m not exactly a stranger to similar debates. Yes, the Seminole tribe of Florida supports the use of the nickname, symbol, and other “Seminole inspired” images. Yes, there is a unique and supportive relationship between the Seminole tribe in Florida and FSU. But there’s plenty of dissenting voices around FSU as well, whether from the Oklahoma Seminole tribe, or the protesters outside every home FSU football game. Such debates will always occur.
What strikes me now that the decision to retire has been made, is that beginning today the true character of UND alumni, Grand Forks residents, and fans will show. How many racist comments will appear on news articles and Facebook pages (I just checked, there’s some already)? Will frustration lead to dialog and healthy grieving, or will protests turn wholly negative? Will those who disagree with the decision do so with both their individual feelings,and the university’s and community’s best interest in mind?
To be honest, my thoughts immediately turn to my experiences in the local and national Presbyterian church. Sometimes our reaction to change is impulsive, drastic, and damaging. Sometimes, though, with solid leadership and clear heads we seize the opportunity to mourn for what was, and begin to imagine a new future. After big change, we need opportunities for dialog and expressing our profound disagreement. The spirit of those exchanges often determines how stakeholders react down the line — to fight or fold.
I hope that President Kelley, leaders from the Sioux tribes, and members of the board of higher ed will now lead in ways that allow for showings of public grief and tolerate continued disagreement, even as they move to choose a new mascot and logo of which we might be proud.
Review: Hudson's "The Bones of Plenty"
Rarely, a good book puts me in the reader’s bind: it’s so good I want to savor every page, so I end up reading it very slowly, over several weeks. The Bones of Plenty by Lois Phillips Hudson, published in 1963, was one of those rare reads.
A few weeks ago, a friend who grew up in North Dakota sent me some book recommendations after he learned I moved to the region. The Bones of Plenty made the list, and I’m so glad.
The story chronicles the plight of a family of farmers near Jamestown in the 1930s. My depression era history is pretty weak, so the novel gave me some significant historical awareness. What I enjoyed most, however, was the depth of Hudson’s main character: George Custer, a farmer trying to get by despite drought and disease, his father-in-law’s close watch, and a less-than-kind landlord. Custer’s personality — both overly optimistic and antagonistic — only makes his character more believable and pitiful. The way Custer treats his wife Rachel also tags a so sad but so true hyper-masculinity. Furthermore, his disdain for his daughter being a girl (and not being able to take over the farm) is utterly heartbreaking.
The same thought had crossed my mind, so I wasn’t surprised that several online reviews compared Bones of Plenty to Grapes of Wrath. Hudson isn’t quite Steinbeck, but Bones has that same grasping unrelenting quality, the same humanity vs. the powers that makes Grapes of Wrath so amazing.
So, if you’re up for a novel to savor, pick up the Dakotan Grapes of Wrath: The Bones of Plenty.
The Campaign has Begun
I had hoped to write a long post today on sugar beets, but with a Presbytery Meeting Friday and Saturday in Bismarck, and two services to prepare for on Sunday, I can’t quite pull that off. Still, though, October 1 marks the official start of sugar beet harvest, an economic engine of the area and — eventually — the source of sugar in many of your household goods (I mean, could we live without Coke and Oreos?!)
I will say, however, that all those in “the campaign” (as it is called) are on my mind today. For those out of the area who read the blog, they run 12 hour shifts, day and night until the harvest is completed. The processing plants are up and running now, and will be for months. The highways are full of trucks hauling beets and the farms have extra workers to keep the campaign running smoothly.
Now, only, if it would stop raining!
photo from wikipedia, but is from Morrison Farms, Bathgate, ND.
Grand Impressions
Oh I suppose I’ve been a Grand Forks resident for going-on two weeks, ya, and you betcha I just love the place.
(A quick phone pic from the Greenway Trail. Grand Forks was originally a port for steamboats until trains proved more profitable.)
Actually, overall, it has made a very good first impression with me. Here’s some bullets on what I’ve taken in so far.
Wows:
- love the wide streets; it’s the antithesis of driving in Scotland and you just feel safer and calmer while driving
- related to above, I love the (mostly) grid pattern of the streets. Streets run North/South and Avenues run East/West. Most roads hit at right angles (only complicated by the river, at points.) It’s bliss.
- The Greenway is amazing! The miles of trails along the river, wide path, friendly people. Just beautiful — and just blocks from our place.
- I do enjoy the university feel of the town. Students are everywhere, and this is often a good thing.
- Relatively low prices abound.
- Everything is close. I have yet to have a trip over 15 minutes. Not bad at all, especially coming from Atlanta most recently.
- No real lines anywhere — got my Drivers License in six minutes, most of which were spent chatting with the clerk.
Pows:
- Not meaning to be a snob, but I haven’t found a ton of real tasty locally-owned restaurants. Nothing against Applebees and Space Aliens but…
- Our mail is delivered, on average, at about 5:45 p.m. If I could only pretend it was the next day’s mail early…
- The movie selection is far from stellar; I do like the occasional art house or indie film. I guess it may be time to bump-up our Netflix account.
- There are plenty of coffee shops, several locally-owned so that’s great! But I do miss a local book store option. Maybe it’s out there, but I haven’t stumbled on it yet.
- There seems to be a supermarket monopoly. Now there’s a Hugo’s on every other corner, but I do wonder what else would crop up if Hugo’s didn’t have the market saturated.
- Ok, I’ll be honest here though I’m not proud of it: I really miss Banana Republic. There’s nothing like seeing that clearance rack in person.
Well, I better stop there before I get myself in trouble. Oh, but I almost forgot to mention the best thing of all: It’s not snowing yet!
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