I haven’t had a good nanny state story in a while but thankfully some Australian activists have shattered that fact. There seems to be a 25% increase in pedestrian deaths and the assume culprit are iPods. The most obvious solution to such a problem is to make it illegal:
But Mr Scruby said the rise in the popularity of iPods and other listening devices illustrated an urgent need for action by state government and manufacturers.
”The government is quite happy to legislate that people can lose two demerit points for having music up too loud in their cars, but is apparently unconcerned that listening devices now appear to have become lethal pieces of entertainment,” he said. ”They should legislate appropriate penalties for people acting so carelessly towards their own welfare and that of others.
”Manufacturers … should be made to [warn] consumers of the risks they run.”
Yes that will fix the problem, legislation. I mean it always works so well. Once you make something illegal it’ll go away. I’m sure Australia will be free of iPod related accidents as soon as that legislation is passed. It’s a good thing government can protect us from ourselves.
I also love how they want manufacturers to put yet another warning label that will be ignored onto the device.