Three cheers for the Nanny State! Long may she live.
This affirmation is inspired by a comment on the Getting There blog. It came in response to my report that the parents of Heather Leigh Hurd, a young woman killed in a crash by a truck driver who was text-messaging at the time, plan to return to Annapolis next year to seek a strengthening of the watered-down bill that passed this year.
The commenter wrote: "With all due respect to the Hurds, this won't do anything. More 'nanny' laws won't help bring their daughter back or prevent accidents from happening in the future."
I'll grant the commenter the first part. No law is going to bring Heather Hurd back. And I'm reasonably sure Russell and Kim Hurd are aware of that every day of their lives.
But there is every reason to think the law the General Assembly passed - weakened though it was to allow reading of text messages - could prevent needless deaths. And if a "nanny" law is what it takes to save a life or two, so be it.
"Nanny state" is an epithet meant to cut off all discussion and to stigmatize ideas before they can be reasonably considered. Too frequently, the phrase is used as a way to ridicule common sense.
But what the heck is wrong with nannies anyway? They work long hours, frequently at low pay, and in some cases treat children better than their parents do.
Children are supposed to outgrow their nannies. But as I observe the behavior of people on the state's roads, I'm not so sure.
Drive just about anywhere in Maryland and you'll observe adult motorists behaving like spoiled children. They are texting while driving, chatting on cell phones while weaving from lane to lane, refusing to let others merge, speeding and tailgating and otherwise acting out juvenile impulses.
These people need a nanny. They need somebody with the proverbial "eyes in the back of her head" to be watching them.
If some spoiled children - be they 16 or 60 - are tempted to indulge in driving while texting, they ought to have a little nanny in the back of their heads nagging them to put their little electronic device down and pay some attention to the road. And if they persist in that behavior, they deserve a virtual paddling in the form of a traffic ticket.
Why? Because you or I or the people we love may be in the vehicles they put in harm's way with their self-indulgent behavior.
