Gib, compared with that glorious citadel of freedom, Hong Kong, it was only a slight exaggeration. Totalitarianism here: en.wikipedia.org NZ is in thrall to a vast left wing conspiracy. Admittedly it's not as totalitarian as the most extreme forms, but it's very, very, far from Freedom United. Have you checked tax rates lately? Don't forget to include the taxes by local authorities, duties, permits, petrol taxes, regulatory costs and the vast array of other charges enforced by government. Water and electricity charges are government imposts too [being government owned and monopoly priced].
There are all sorts of restrictions on speech too [far more than libel laws which are akin to fraud prevention though they have been misappropriated from that function].
Heck, it's even illegal to ride a motor scooter to the corner store with the headlights off while talking on a cellphone [or soon will be]. You must be one of those people who thinks it should be illegal to use a cellphone while driving.
Retarded people can't chew gum and walk at the same time, but that doesn't mean the rest of us should not be able to do so.
There is already plenty of law to punish bad driving. Failing to stop at a stop sign and crashing into another vehicle for example. It doesn't require a separate charge - "Doing it because of holding a cellphone". It's good enough to punish the faulty action, not the cause. "I was ogling the girl in the short dress so didn't notice the stop sign" - there's no need for a separate law, "It is an offence to ogle girls while driving".
There is also the overall rule about "Driving with due care and attention." That covers all the inattention possibilities such as tuning the radio, looking at children in the back, fondling a female while driving, looking down at sandwiches to decide which to eat next, looking in the mirror to put on lipstick/shave.
Mqurice |
