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Driving laws, news, Royals

Guy Speckman by Guy Speckman
September 1, 2023
in Ponder the Thought
The Ten
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I’m not a fan of continued government overreach, but I’m excited about a new law that went into effect on Monday. Missouri became the 49th state to prohibit manually texting and driving, and other associated acts of holding and viewing your phone while you drive.

I drive tens of thousands of miles every year and the condition of driving has deteriorated steadily in the last 20 years. I’ve certainly been guilty as well, but I encounter car after car after car daily that never see the people around them as they scroll Facebook, Instagram and Twitter each day. It’s mind boggling to see in action.

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Anyway, the roads are a mess and I hope that this new law is enforced, although I am doubtful. Law enforcement interest in traffic laws has appeared to deteriorate over the years as well. Likely for good reason as it has gotten more time consuming and resource eating to accomplish.


Do you guys really believe that the phones we carry today don’t have the technology to stop you from using them for texting and scrolling your socials when you are sitting in the driver’s seat of a car going 80 MPH? Of course, they do. They don’t care. The government and corporations want our heads buried in the phone.


I’m writing this Monday morning and former President Trump has not yet been indicted this week. Small steps folks.


Speaking of technology that we need to step away from, the television news is a dumpster fire. I was a long-time news junkie. Watched ABC news each evening and at least two or three versions of the Channel 9 local news each day.

I gave it up a couple of years ago and I now catch maybe 10 minutes of this blabber each week. It makes me laugh to watch. Honestly, take a break for a week and then watch one episode. They will convince you that we are on the brink of a race war, that the planet is near extinction and the LBQT, etc. community is 50% of the population base (it’s 7% btw).

It’s the sad end to a meaningful institution of most of our lifetimes.


This is turning into a tinfoil hat column. I assure you I am lucid and sober, just cynical from birth.


As I said in a prior column, I’m pulling for Clay County in the Royals stadium endeavor. A prominent Kansas City radio show host who lives in Johnson County tweeted and commented last week about how Clay County would never work because the infrastructure would not handle “all the people that need to cross the bridge.” Uh… this is the way bridges work. The people that now cross a bridge to get to Kaufman from Clay County won’t have to cross the bridge anymore, but the Johnson County people will. Pretty sure it is a wash, but I’m no engineer, consult your own professional before deciding to cross.

(Guy Speckman can be reached crossing bridges and not watching news)

Tags: Guy Speckman
Guy Speckman

Guy Speckman

Guy Speckman is a Landmark contributing columnist with his Ponder the Thought column. Speckman is the former owner of the Savannah Reporter, where the column appeared for nearly two decades. Speckman is a former city government manager, serving as city administrator in Maysville, Plattsburg and Savannah before entering business. He is a graduate of Northwest Missouri State University (1989). He is originally from Plattsburg, Missouri. He and his wife own and operate a real estate valuation firm and a daily legal newspaper and are the parents of two grown children.

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