Our View: No need to outlaw driving while texting

You don't have to be very bright to realize it's unsafe to drive a car while punching out a text message letter by letter on a cell phone. And you don't have to be very bright to realize passing another law to outlaw such dimwitted behavior is overkill.

Why are we not surprised that the California Legislature is proving itself not too bright? Again.

When our self-anointed wise men and women in Sacramento aren't passing new laws to regulate old facts of life, such as how much you should pay them in taxes and how much you should knuckle under to the repression du jour, they are passing new laws to apply to newfacts of life.

Texting while driving is an activity unknown to mankind before the advent of cell phones and BlackBerries. Sadly, but unsurprisingly, someone thinks this new behavior demands that there ought to be a law.

Senate Bill 28 is on its way to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for his signature after passing the state Senate 25-14 with all but two Republicans in opposition. The bill would impose a $20 fine for a first offense, $50 a pop thereafter.

If the governor signs it, this latest Nanny State obsession will result in yet another law on the books, turning yet more Californians into lawbreakers and giving yet more authorities yet something else to enforce. Enough already.

Let's not be misunderstood. Texting while driving is stupid behavior. Trying to keep your vehicle from slamming into something while simultaneously sharing gossip with whoever's at the other end of a texting conversation is multitasking to a dangerous degree.

We don't need to create a new law to condemn what's essentially an old transgression already covered by existing law.

"There is already sufficient law that can be applied if someone is driving while distracted," said Sen. George Runner, one of the Republicans who opposed the bill. He properly mocked the idea: "The next one is going to be you can't drive while you are eating a hamburger."

Paying attention while driving is its own reward. You probably won't crash, so you won't be nearly as likely to get hurt or hurt someone else or demolish any vehicles or be sued. A new law isn't needed to enforce common sense.

But in typical upside-down Sacramento reasoning, this bill's backers argue that they should outlaw texting while driving because they've already outlawed talking with a cell phone pressed to your ear while driving. They're so wise they don't realize that passing one stupid law is not a reason to pass another stupid law.