This comment was originally posted on the cartalk.com website in response to Robert Hahn's New York Times editorial on cellphones and driving.

AEI-Brookings Joint Center Policy Matters 99-09


Update on Cell Phone Driving Issue. Tom and Ray Magliozzi.  December 1999.

A couple of interesting developments that you might be interested in.

1. That Great Newspaper and arbiter of what's "fit to print" -- the "New York Times" -- opted to print a guest op-ed column on November 12 ("Driving and Talking Do Mix") by some guy named Robert Hahn from the American Enterprise Institute.

We wanted to reprint it so you could read it yourself, but the NYT wants $250 for permission to reprint. Instead, we'll paraphrase. Mr. Hahn says that it's silly to ban the use of cell phones while driving. In fact, according to his personal estimates, cell phones will cause only 10,000 serious accidents this year, leading to (a mere) 100 fatalities.

Then this moron (in our opinion) goes on to explain to us that he has done a cost/benefit analysis, and in his opinion 100 deaths and 10,000 serious accidents is a small price to pay for the enormous benefits we derive from using the cell phone.

Here are a couple of his benefits:

1. The ability to call for help when your car breaks down. (Right away one has to wonder if this guy is playing with a full deck. If your car breaks down, you'd hardly be using the cell phone AND driving. Duh, Mr. Hahn.)

B. And this one is a beauty. The 10,000 serious accidents and 100 fatalities are a small price to pay (says Mr. Hahn) for "the ability to remind your spouse that your daughter's school play starts in 20 minutes." At this point you know that he is DEFINITELY not playing with a full deck.

Naturally we immediately penned a letter to the editor, who apparently did not consider it to be "fit to print." (Admittedly, the letter was a little short on tact and diplomacy. We didn't think such moronic thinking deserved tact and diplomacy.)

Fortunately the NYT did print a couple of letters that did address the issues. One said, "Does he really consider a cell phone call from a car to 'remind your spouse that your daughter's school play starts in 20 minutes' more important than even one life? Since when do small conveniences rank above human life?"
B #2. A few weeks ago, we at Car Talk Plaza were approached by NBC News. They had heard our ranting and seen the feature here on the site, so they wanted to do an interview with Tom and Ray on the cell phone issue. We generally eschew the media whenever possible. But this seemed like an opportunity to help a good cause, so we agreed to do it. Everything was arranged; a date, time and location for the taping were set up.

But...a few days before the event, we were informed that "the producer in New York had decided not to do it."

B #2 part 2. We were approached by CBS with a similar request.

Again, mysteriously, the "producer in New York decided not to do it."

Now, it's certainly possible that there's a simple explanation for these two incidents. The most likely -- even we admit it -- is that the producer had never seen or heard of us before. I mean, that would certainly explain it. If you were a producer of a major network show and...well, you get the idea.

On the other hand, there's a distinct possibility that the news that's fit to print and the news that's fit to put on the air are very much influenced by big bucks. Let's face it: there's a lot of money involved in the cell phone industry -- and lots of it goes to advertising.

Just a thought.

Tom and Ray Magliozzi are co-hosts of NPR's weekly radio show Car Talk.


The following is Tom and Ray Magliozzi's original letter to The New York Times:




                                        18 November 1999

Letters to the Editor
The New York Times
229 West 43d Street
New York, NY 10036

             
                                        Tom and Ray Magliozzi
                                        Co-hosts, Car Talk
                                        National Public Radio