[Mpls] Ban the word Ban

[Eric Oines]

"Dan" <dmcgrath1 at mn.rr.com> wrote:

Minneapolis has the word "ban" too firmly implanted in the front of our
collective minds. Everyone seems to think that their pet-peeves should be
eliminated by ordinance. I see the word "ban" on this list so often, its
beginning to loose all meaning. Ban leaf blowers, ban smoking, ban truck
idling, ban refrigerator trucks, ban cell-phones, ban bad food, ban "scary"
inflatable creatures. Come on, people. I thought this city was supposed to
be a center of "tolerance." Seems no one here can tolerate anything.

In my present line of work (driver), I could not actually perform my job
without using either a cell-phone, or two-way radio while driving (we use
the Nextels with walkie-talkie function). Many other professionals have the
same dilemma. Are we to be ticketed for performing a requirement of our
jobs?

Eric says:

And yet, if you were not allowed to use your phone while driving, you would 
adjust, just as people adjust to not being able to smoke in their offices.  
It is a rare circumstance that you cannot wait and pull off to talk.  Many 
service van/truck drivers do all their talking in their vehicles either 
after they arrive, or before they leave their various destinations.

Anecdote:  Last friday, in the parking lot of my local grocery store, 1 year 
old in cart, approaching the doors (clearly marked stop signs, yellow 
stripes, pedestrian crossing warnings all over the place), a man, lighting a 
cigarette and talking into his 2-way Nextel, nearly killed both of us 
because he was "otherwise engaged" in his "required activity".

This is not a random occurance.  I commute within the Minneapolis beltway, 
often with my baby in the car, and daily run encounter people who feel that 
their urgent need to have a conversation (business related or not) 
automatically trumps the safety of people in 2-ton masses of metal moving at 
high speed.  You want to talk that badly, then carpool.

A co-worker of mine was recently hit by a car at the intersection of 11th 
Ave and Franklin by a very nice man (on his phone), who didn't look to  see 
if someone was crossing before taking a right turn.  Of course, he was very 
nice and very apologetic, but that was after the damage was done.  The 
ensuing police report, ambulance ride, loss of productivity, etc., 
contributes to your tax burden and our collective healthcare burden.

As my favorite car guys Tom and Ray say, "drive now, talk later."

Oh, and by the way, we already regulate all sorts of unsafe food (spoiled, 
rotten, contaminated, BSE, food colorings, additives, etc., etc.), various 
motorized implements, what you can burn, where and how, etc. - all to the 
good.  You just don't notice because it's part of life.

And we are living longer, on average, as a consequence.

Eric Oines
North Minneapolis

"One day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal we 
seek, but that it is a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue 
peaceful ends through peaceful means."
  ~ Martin Luther King Jr., Agitator