Obey The Law
November 7, 2008

On a Monday in July, just before the new hands-free while driving law took effect, the dedicated staff of edhat.com sat on a wall at the Four Corners Intersection (Ralph's, gas station, Greyhound, and hotel formerly known as the Andalucia) to count the number of drivers who were talking on their cell phones. On that day, there were 23 talkers in our sample of 500 drivers.

Shortly after the cell phone law went into effect, we went to the same location and counted again. The new law was definitely having its desired outcome. This time there were only nine drivers in our sample on the phone.

Oh, but how things change over time. Those hands-free devices we put in our ears are uncomfortable. They don't always work. And, they get left at home or lose their charge. And sometimes the phone rings, and their just isn't time to get them in sync. On the other side of the equation, there are very few stories of people getting tickets for talking on the phone. And, the few times that we have done it, we were not caught.

And this is the way it's gone over the past four months. Today when you drive around town, it looks like there are just as many people driving and phoning as there were before the law came to be.

Ed wanted to know for sure. So, yesterday we went back to the same spot to count again. And lo and beyond, we found exactly 23 drivers on the phone!

Some of them were guiltily holding the phone in front of their faces. And they all probably felt a little remorse, or fear of being caught. But the behavior continues just the same … exactly the same according to our surveys.

Flotsam and Petern were the closest guessers in yesterday's contest. By order of the rule of two, they both win Edhat t-shirts pickupable at Highlights Salon.

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