No Help For Self-Inflicted Injury, Part 2

The number of people injured or killed in automobiles as a result of the usage of cell-phones to text while driving is increasing.  We all know that there is a much greater likelihood of having an accident while driving when we are distracted.  According to the Daily Oklahoman today, the chances of having an accident while texting are 23 times greater.

The Highway Patrol and the local police agree that making texting while driving illegal is not a practical solution to the problem, as it is almost impossible to detect the presence of that kind of distraction prior to an accident.  Why arrest when you can't prove in court that the driver was actually texting while driving?

I would be in favor of allowing texting while driving if the drivers killed only themselves.  Why not eliminate the dummards from the gene pool, and earlier/younger better than later?  But they kill people who aren't doing anything stupid and who deserve to be protected from the criminally stupid.  So the following solution suggests itself:  Why not excuse insurance companies from paying for damages caused by texting while driving?  Perhaps the victims of the accident could still be covered, but certainly the texting driver at fault should not be covered.  And perhaps criminal penalties could also be involved if the law were written properly.

By the same line of reasoning,  insurance should not pay a drunken driver for causing an accident.  It's important to add that the victims of the accident who were not the cause should not be penalized financially. 

The principle idea remains the same in this small series of blogs:  People who knowingly and willfully assume a risk should be financially and personally responsible for the outcome of the risky behavior.  It's impractical to assume that police can stop all irresponsible behavior before it has a tragic result.  But we can make the self-injurious pay their own bills, and perhaps that will discourage at least those few who can count.

A good way to start would be to contact your insurance agent and tell him/her:  "I don't want to pay extra for people who take unnecessary risks, like driving and texting or drinking.  Please contact the company and tell them I'm looking for insurance that doesn't reward deliberately reckless behavior."  You could also contact the Insurance Commissioner in your home state and share the problem with him/her.