Stop the Connecticut Cell Phone Ban

I'm not sure if it has been mentioned here or not yet (a cursory glance at
the recent threads didn't turn up anything), but last Thursday eve,
6/2/2005, the CT State Senate voted in favor of a ban on the use of
cellphones while driving unless a headset is worn.

It has been reported that Gov. Rell plans to sign the (IMO) ill-conceived
bill and make CT the second (or third, depending on how you look at NJ's
law) state to enact this sort of silly, heavy-handed, and paternalistic
legislation which will likely result in more severe distractions (and thus
potentially more harmful accidents) than the "problem" which it attempts to
cure.

I've set up an "Action Alert" on an older demo system which we have which
allows respondents to enter their name, e-mail and/or postal address (maybe
Gov. Rell will write back? ), and immediately send out a pre-written fax
in opposition to the ban.

If you prefer, the letter may be edited/customized/augmented to make it more
personal and thus more closely reflect your own viewpoint.

To send Gov. Rell a letter about the ban which urges her to veto it, please
go to:

Residents of CT: http://www.lobbybyfax.com/lobby/sele...asp?alertid=26
Non-Residents : http://www.lobbybyfax.com/lobby/sele...asp?alertid=27

If the above URL's do not get you to the correct page (VERY old browsers may
have trouble with the direct link, and some devices with Palm OS don't seem
to be able to connect there), you can go to http://www.lobbybyfax.com and
select the appropriate ID from the main page. (I'll put it ahead of all the
other test and demo alerts which we currently have.)

When you get to the correct alert, select "Connecticut" from the drop-down
menu (the other states are obviously not relevant here as they may be in
more nationally-oriented alerts), check the "Gov Jodi Rell" box (it is the
only box in this specific alert since she is the only person who we are
faxing to), and press "Next". You may then send the letter as is, or edit it
as you wish, and when done, click "Next" again, and it will be immediately
faxed to the Governor's office.

A few notes:

1. This is an older, demo system with a generic front/main page, and some
other alerts as well. Feel free to respond to them but we allow only a few
per week per person so make sure you do the CT Cellphone Ban one first!

2. We filter out any/all inappropriate language, so you are wasting your
time if you want to be an 8-year old and play silly word games, and the
Governor will NOT receive your fax if there is even one word in it which
should not be used in polite conversation.

3. This is a public service (or a self-serving public service ), but it
really has nothing to do with Interpage NSI other than no one here likes
cellphone bans or wires all over the car as a result of tangled headsets. It
may not be up all the time, and it may not work as fast as production
models. (Hey, the paying customers get priority! )

4. I don't read the incoming mail, so if you are one of these people who
sits in front of a computer with nothing better to do saying "Anything you
do in the car is unsafe and you should be shot and deserve to die if you
don't drive with both hands on the wheel like the Ms. Prissy (eg, from
Foghorn Leghorn) that I am with the little blue bonnet so tight that
sufficient blood obviously doesn't get to my brain" then save it. I don't
care, and likely never will, so don't waste your time. (I haven't posted
here in a while but I remember there was some girl(?)/woman(?) who just sat
around and essentially said "Everyone must drive at 55 or if they don't they
deserve to die" or something ludicrous so if you are like that *please* save
yourself the trouble since your words are unimportant and we do not hear
them (I heard that somewhere a long time ago )

5. We do not sell, solicit, spam or pay much attention to who you are or
your e-mail address. This really is for free and we will never contact you,
that is, this is not some attempt to get valid e-mail addresses to sell to
spammers. We also don't benefit financially from the veto, but the roads of
CT may be safer since I'll only be looking over my shoulder SOME of the
time - at exists - to watch out for speed traps, rather than ALL of the
time lokking for "cellphone police" at every street corner if the bill
passes!

ANYHOW, I know it's a long shot, but it's free and maybe if a sufficient
number of people respond the Governor will take notice and realize that
passing the bill may not go as un-noticed as she seems to hope it will.

Good luck!

Regards,

-Doug

http://www.interpage.net
(510) 315-2750

With any luck this post should also appear on an archive of all my other
ramblings about nothing of importance at:
http://www.wirelessnotes.org