Dangerous Driving

Remember a few weeks back, when I made fun of the New York Times Editorial blog for calling on Hollywood to self-censor smoking in movies? Well, it was in that same spirit that this Hartford Courant story on how tv, commercials, and movies glorify dangerous driving made me wonder why we feel the need to treat smoking as a more serious problem than dangerous driving.

When it comes to smoking, we get newspaper editorial pages and attorney generals calling for R-ratings for any films with smoking, yet when it comes to dangerous driving, as the Courant points out, worried politicians worry there's little they can do. It's all a bit ridiculous, but when it comes down to it, isn't reckless driving more likely to kill your teenager than smoking? It's just sort of telling as to what politicians think is their business and when they think there are limits- and when it comes to smoking there are no holds barred.