AtomicBaboon!?!

Why do people want to pass legislation to ban this or that when someone gets themself killed while using it? New York Senator Carl Kruger wants to make it illegal to use a portable electronic device while using a crosswalk in New York. He wants to do this because people are apparently falling victim to "iPod Oblivion." He claims that people have been injured or even killed because rather than paying attention to where they were walking they were zoned out listening to or otherwise using their portable electronic devices.

So, people did something stupid and got themselves injured or killed. Happens all the time. Why do they need a law to punish everyone because a few people are stupid and irresponsible? This idea that the government needs to pass this law or that law to protect us from stupidity is absurd and encroaches upon our personal liberties. Laws like these are systematically robbing us of our personal freedom simply because a few people lack the personal responsibility and common sense necessary to ensure their continued existence.

It is certainly tragic that people have inadvertently been injured or killed because they weren't paying attention. However, it is not a reason to make the rest of us suffer for it.

NY Senator Wants iPods Out of Crosswalks
Curbing "iPod Oblivion" On City Streets?