Letters

Don’t be indifferent to regulating

August 3, 2016   ·   0 Comments

Bill Rea make his point against more regulating as it pertains to people texting, phoning and catching Pokemons on public sidewalks, apparently initiated by some at Toronto’s City council (July 21).
They want the Province to step in to outlaw these activities and he opined that apparently the Province is not going to act on it.
I think the senior government should eagerly pick up on this request.
As he reported, “If some idiot is texting and smashes into a wall, then good for him.”
But we have also been mandated by law to wear seatbelt while riding in a car or wear helmets on motorcycles.
In both those cases, and perhaps others, it might be argued that if people are careless about themselves, let them.
However, this is not about saving citizens from themselves. But when they come to harm, they also become a burden on our very costly public health system, from doctors’ visits to ambulances and hospital stays.
And that is why we should not be indifferent to people smashing into stationary objects, let alone fellow users of public places such as pedestrians.
The alternative, of course, would be to let the miscreants who harm themselves pay their own medical expenses; but then it may become difficult to distinguish between foolhardiness and genuine, unprovoked accidents.
Wulf Graunitz,
Palgrave

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