We here at LA Weekly are a little sick of needless, nebulous state laws that give cops way too much power to conduct fund raising write tickets.

Case-in-point:

California's retarded texting-while-driving law which, apparently, has done nothing to deter texting-while-driving, but has certainly resulted in many a debatable ticket. Even the guy who wrote that law isn't sure cops are enforcing it correctly.

With that as a backdrop, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released research today on distracted driving. It says that nearly …

… two out of every five American drivers admits to texting while driving.

Whew.

For drivers ages 21 to 24 that number is one out of two. Half. Like Eddie Murphy. Also:

… More than three-quarters of drivers report that they are willing to answer calls on all, most, or some trips. Drivers also report that they rarely consider traffic situations when deciding when to use their phone.

” … Driver distraction continues to be a major problem,” says NHTSA administrator David Strickland.

Yeah, we agree: Texting while driving is stupid. We just don't think that a law is going to stop it.

[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]

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