It’s A Good Thing I’m Not Cynical

You all know what a Pollyanna I am, never ascribing base motives to moves by politicians. It’s a good thing too, because if I were a cynical suspicious type, I’d probably think that this,

U.S. Won’t Back Ban on Phones for Drivers

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said he won’t back a proposal to prohibit drivers from talking on cellphones, even hands-free devices, giving a boost to car makers and mobile-phone companies that stand to lose if regulators impose a ban.
 

had more to do with political fall out from last weeks announcement than any real interest in what the financial consequences would be for manufacturers and consumers.

A real cynic would say, wait until after next year’s election and see what happens. Or wait until they think no one is paying attention and see what proposal is tucked into an obscure corner of some sort of law or executive order.

You see, a cynic (remember I’m not one) would say that this part,

The debate over the comparative safety of hand-held and hands-free mobile devices in cars is far from over. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which is part of the Department of Transportation, is to release a study late next year evaluating the level of risk when drivers use hand-held and hands-free devices.

just means that they want to wait until after the election to release this study and if Obama wins, the regulations to implement their policy.

A paranoid cynic might think that the regulations just might require cell phones to be able to detect when they are moving above a certain speed and disable themselves.

This part,

Ford’s Sync would be affected by the ban but General Motors Co.’s OnStar wouldn’t because its hands-free calling feature is integrated into the car and doesn’t require a cellphone to connect, the NTSB said.

did make me wonder a bit. Either the writer doesn’t know a lot about technology, or a government spokesman is pulling a fast one. Why do I say that? Because OnStar most certainly does use a cell phone to connect, it’s just a cell phone built into the car. Ford’s Sync is built into the car, but it requires a driver supplied cell phone to place calls. OnStar is a limited use cell phone, but it’s a cell phone none the less. How do they think OnStar communicates back to the GM Death Star OnStar central?

By the way, for those of you Golden Hour haters, OnStar even has a plug for that!

OnStar is also owned at least in part, by General Motors. General Motors is owned, at least in part, but the government. Again, I’m not cynical, because if I were, I’d think that the determination of what is and what isn’t covered by the ban might have been influenced by certain political officials desire to give the government owned (in part) company an edge over the company that took steps to avoid bankruptcy and thus a government bailout and the attendant government sticking it’s incompetent noses into private business.

Not that that would ever happen. Only a cynic would think that. Did I mention that I’m not one of those?