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[Thad]

The real problem will be that - fat neckbeards notwithstanding - "browsing the internet" doesn't really carry the same negative social connotations as does "you're a drunk", which is the real reason that anti-distraction campaigns will never be as effective as anti-drunk-driving campaigns, even though they are rapidly becoming about equally lethal.

Bear in mind that just a few decades ago drunk driving wasn't even really frowned on.

But yeah, a (positive) social stigma against drunk driving has been carried too far into a (negative) social stigma against drinking at all.

Add to that the fact that there actually ARE potentially legitimate uses for Web use while driving (looking at a map on my dash is safer than fumbling for one in my glovebox) and it's definitely a much more complex situation.  Even more complex than talking on cell phones, which fuckwits just can't seem to stop doing.

[Brentai]

I already have a GPS on my dash, though.  It even plays MP3s, if for some reason you absolutely must have that (which I do, because my no-headphone-port multi-changer is prone to choking on a disc fairly often).

Beyond that I don't know what other use you need for web connectivity other than calling emergency services, at which point you can just talk on your cell phone while driving like everyone else.

[Mongrel]

You need it so you can browse the internet while driving. Duh.

[Misha]

I don't know if you guys have ever taken a road trip but it's prett useful to have the guy sitting next to you be able to find restaurants or what not while you drive

[SCD]

Also, the potential this means for wifi on busses (not free, mind you) is interesting here.

[Kazz]

fr-friends?

in my car?

i thought we were talking about the internet

i'm confused

[Mongrel]

I'm pretty sure we can all think of perfectly serious and legitimate uses for the internet, even while driving - just like we can cellphones.

Guess what 99% of usage will be though.

[Kazz]

i can't say for sure

but i bet it involves gianna michaels

[Catloaf]

But yeah, a (positive) social stigma against drunk driving has been carried too far into a (negative) social stigma against drinking at all.

Except for where there should be one:  colleges high schools and occasionally junior-high schools.  In these places, it's actually the opposite, where one potentially (likely) looses popularity/friends/social contacts for not drinking.  When I was in the (freshman) dorms and actually meeting people, I saw most people visibly losing interest in me as soon as I mentioned that I don't drink/do drugs other than my medication.

Back on distracted driving... What new cars should have:  a port to plug a cell phone into which would automatically go to a integrated hands-free system, with speakers/mic in the head-rest or something.  Hell, if you could get the cell phone makers (or programmers for iPhone/android users) to work with them so the phone is even more integrated, and does things like only working on voice command while driving, or have a button on the steering wheel to answer a call with and other things to actually lower distractions.

[Beat Bandit]

Also, the potential this means for wifi on busses (not free, mind you) is interesting here.

That is already pretty common on anything not, like, city-based.

[Mongrel]

But yeah, a (positive) social stigma against drunk driving has been carried too far into a (negative) social stigma against drinking at all.

Except for where there should be one:  colleges high schools and occasionally junior-high schools.  In these places, it's actually the opposite, where one potentially (likely) looses popularity/friends/social contacts for not drinking.  When I was in the (freshman) dorms and actually meeting people, I saw most people visibly losing interest in me as soon as I mentioned that I don't drink/do drugs other than my medication.

Back on distracted driving... What new cars should have:  a port to plug a cell phone into which would automatically go to a integrated hands-free system, with speakers/mic in the head-rest or something.  Hell, if you could get the cell phone makers (or programmers for iPhone/android users) to work with them so the phone is even more integrated, and does things like only working on voice command while driving, or have a button on the steering wheel to answer a call with and other things to actually lower distractions.

Several credible studies have already demonstrated that integration and/or hands-free does very little to reduce distraction levels.

The problem isn't whether or not you're holding a phone to your face, it's that you're talking to someone or doing shit.

[Defenestration]

http://jonathanturley.org/2009/09/24/new-jersey-judge-drops-charges-against-police-officer-for-having-sex-with-cows-on-the-grounds-that-they-may-have-enjoyed-it/

[Mongrel]

...

...

THE WINNAH, AN' NOO CHAMPEEN!

[Classic]

I'd be happier about that if I didn't think it would have awful ramifications for rape victims down the road.

[sei]

And my boss says environmentalism will seem like a quaint idea later down the line! (car makers seriously considering putting Internet consoles on the dashboard, since we don't have enough distractions already)

I really hope these consoles get connected to some kind of camera out front, so there's a notification system to announce to browsers, "Hey, asshole, the light turned green!"

[Dooly]

"Hey, asshole, there's a school crossing's worth of kids smashed in your grille!"

[Saturn]

mexican gang members kill rival gang member, sitch his face onto a soccer ball  

I wonder if there's a legitimate way to send in the US military to take care of the drug cartels, having groups of heavily armed drug pushers just over our border is probably a threat to national security.

[Brentai]

GOOAAALLLL!!!!!

[Burrito Al Pastor]

Back when illegal immigration was the Hot Issue, I used to joke that we should annex the rest of North America to the south, and then build a wall down at the bottom of North America where it's a much smaller border.

I liked it better when it was a joke. 

[Royal☭]

The violence in Mexico between drug cartels is a shining example of the situational dichotomy America faces as the citizen majority still wants a prohibition on drugs while at the same time wanting to lessen the influence and brutality of drug traffickers. 

And it's part of a larger tableau that includes the criminalization of the impoverished, hard jail time for non-violent offenders, and the commodification of crime.  Obviously the more extreme we crack down on drug trafficking, the more lucrative and violent the trade becomes.  But few seem willing to make the trade of having the minor, more imminently solvable problem of drugs in society versus the more major, far more difficult turf problem.

There is no magic bullet for solving the cartel problem in America.  Even if we took the extreme measure of invading the taking control of the country (unthinkable, unethical, immoral), we'd still never rid ourselves of the drug cartel problem.  The land is too vast, too unruly, and the traders too well armed and established for our military to ever be effective against them.  The only long term solution would be the decriminalization and regulation of a legal drug market in America.  The high cost of smuggling and maintaining turf wars would never be able to compete with more affordable, safer drugs in country.