The standards that motorists should be held to have their car under control need to be addressed.

When I get on my bike and get on a roadway I assume that my life could be taken away by a motorist but by assuming that risk I do not absolve the motorist from his obligation to have his car "under control", neither should our govt.

It's quite obvious why a car should be required to be under control to the utmost ability of that driver. The physics dictate that a car in motion is a very dangerous situation. Here is a link that shows the forces of a 3,200 lb car. The energy behind a 3,200 lb car at 30 mph is over 98,ooo ft lbs. That is huge for a car on car and even more deadly on a more vunerable user of the roadway such as a pedestrian, cyclist, motorcyclist, or lighter energy efficient cars.

For this post I want to talk about an essential element of control and that is avoiding the distraction of using communication devices such as a cell phone or pda. It's quite obvious that today there are more distractions for motorists and the number one distraction today is the use of communication devices while driving. Society has become very lax as we don't want to give up our use of cell phones as we drive. It's a pretty selfish reason that results in loss of life and loss of money. The result is that we are even more dangerous than ever now. The statistics of texting and driving can me found here. The result is 23 times more likely to be involved in an accident while texting. Talking on a phone is also a distraction and increases the likely hood of an accident by 4 times.

Faced with the realities of the physics of a car in motion and the potential for disaster it is quite clear that while you are engaging in either texting or talking on a cell phone and driving an automobile, you do not have your car under control to your utmost ability.