He may be worried that it will used against him if and when he runs again. You know how the dumicrats act 'ANGELO SANTABARBARA WANTS YOUR CHILDREN TO DIE ON THE HIGHWAY! HE DIDN"T SUPPORT WHAT SOME CALL THE GREATEST LIFE SAVING MEASURE IN COUNTY HISTORY!!!...blah blah blah"

He could be adverse to that risk and want to eliminate an issue that has great resonance with people, especially young parents of teens who want the government to be the parents so they don't have to. I don't blame him for picking his battles. Look, Suhrada was wicked against it and people on this board are saying to sweep him out for his comments. Sometimes in politics it is better to just go along on a few things and not make yourself a target down the road like Suhrada has.

Quoted Text

Texting law not worth trouble

    Schenectady County Legislator Joe Suhrada made a good point about the texting-while-driving ban pushed through the Legislature the other night by Chairwoman Susan Savage: Doesn’t this body have more important things to do?
    The answer is yes, albeit not unequivocally.
    Without question, motorists who send or read text messages over their cellphones while driving are a threat to public safety. It’s a much bigger distraction, and thus more dangerous, than merely talking on a cellphone while driving, which is illegal across the state unless a headset is used.
    Suhrada supports the idea of a texting ban, and so do we. But for it to have even a reasonable chance of succeeding, it probably needs to be imposed at the state level (like the cellphone law, which is roundly ignored probably because it is rarely enforced).
    How does Savage plan to spread the word about the ban, which becomes effective March 1? Is she going to have signs made up and posted at every entrance to the county? Will she buy advertisements on TV, in newspapers or billboards? Such an effort could get expensive — at a time the county is strapped for cash. Yet without such an effort, how does she expect anyone to know about the law?
    Then there’s enforcement: Does she expect police, whose record when it comes to enforcing traffic laws is already pretty uneven, to enforce this one? The fact that there’s been such lax enforcement of the cellphone law makes it less likely that motorists will comply with..............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar01102

The politicos always use the children as a podium......well, politicians are not born/voted out of a vacuum......

we must save the children and be the parents for those not wishing to do the job of parents

Quoted Text

Tougher penalties needed for texting while driving

    I was very disappointed to learn that Schenectady County now has a law to stop motorists from texting while driving. The law is great, but the $150 penalty is a joke.
    The penalty for the first offense should be at least six months’ loss of your license along with the fine. Multiplied by at least three for each future offense, both the fi ne and loss of license.
    Why I say the $150 fine is a joke is, it’s not “fair” to everyone: To a kid working at Burger King, it might mean his whole week’s pay, while it may only be an hour’s pay to some others. If the people in the higher income range are fined $150, they might just laugh it off and continue to break the law. But if they lose their right to drive. it’s a whole different ballgame.
    Texting while driving is somewhat like playing Russian Roulette with your car, except that if you lose with the gun, you only kill or injure yourself. But if you lose while texting, you might well bring a lot of innocent people down with you. If you do kill someone else, the charge should be premeditated murder, not manslaughter or vehicle homicide, and there should be a mandated penalty with no plea bargaining. You really don’t want to know what I think the penalty should be.
    Either get rid of the law or put some teeth in it.

    NEIL NUSBAUM
    Schenectady

I am (like Rightious) MOST disturbed by Joe Suhrada's comments regarding the pretty women and want to know what action will be taken, legally, or otherwise. He said it and I am waiting for the outrage. Where is it? ...will this be the defeat of Suhrada next year when he runs against Bob Godloseski? They say it will be the match of the century. Suhrada promises he will be fighting against wasteful spending like he has for years and Godloseski will promise to do nothing. But first we need to address the seriousness of the charge that Rightious made in order for Rightious to keep his credibility on this board. How do we get the legislature to open an investigating on it?

Oh please....as ridiculous as the dems can be, they surely could care less what Suhrada says about looking at a pretty woman. I mean really...who gives a 'you know what'? If the dems do, then they are even more pathetic and petty than most thought!

I feel no outrage over Joe's comment.  Who hasn't been distracted by some outside force while driving at one time or another?

How dare he exhibit his heterosexual tendencies in public ... doesn't he know that's not politically correct these days?

I can appreciate a well coiffed member of the opposite sex myself.....and I've been married 30 years.  

I think that Joe was trying to make the point that there are many things that can distract us while driving and are we going to try to pass a law against each and every one of them?

Bravo to Joe Suhrada for standing up to this joke, unenforceable distraction. What red blooded American male hasn't been distracted by a pretty young thing while driving? That the Gazetto agreed with him shows that the vast majority are laughing at Savage and her puppets for passing this ninny nanny law. Instead of budget cuts or Metrograft elimination we get this nonsense.

    Mr. Nusbaum's letter is typically of the idiots on the left around here. The whole purpose of this is not safety but emptying your pocket. Increasing the fine just hurts the vanishing working class. Next it will be a State law with points to drive up your record NYS insurance rates. Than morons like Nusbaum will be happy.

Quoted from senders

the economy is so bad that the pitance of 'tickets/fees' they collect goes,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,where????????? Does anyone really think that it is for the safety of
community.....PUUUUHHHHLLLLLEASE.......

Maybe she was riding in an SUV(her's/county/friends/whoever's) looked down into a VW and noticed a college kid texting at stop light and then Ms.Savage
saw $$$$ signs........she then called all her insurance friends and invested her $$$ into the insurance companies........

Madoff scheme?????

Quoted Text

Texting while driving ban not needed or enforceable

Re Dec. 10 article, “Law forbids texting while driving”: I find it absurd that there needs to be a law passed forbidding text messaging while driving. Isn’t it already against the law to use a cellphone while driving?
Not to mention the fact that cellphone use while driving does not appear to be enforced; now the authorities have another issue to “look the other way” on.

DANA BRIZEE
Niskayuna     

http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar00709

I agree w/ Dana.  There are laws on the books that can be enforced to address those who drive
irresponsibly.  This is another law that won't can't / won't be enforced.  

What was the real motivation for proposing and passing such legislation?