Next on the list?
Posted on 08/26/2006 11:13:18 AM PDT by radar101
Motorists would be banned from using handheld cell phones - a problem blamed for thousands of vehicle crashes and fatalities - under a bill expected to be approved by the Legislature next week. Modeled after a New York City law, Senate Bill 1613 would fine drivers using handheld cell phones $20 for the first offense and $50 for subsequent offenses beginning Jan. 1, 2008.
It would not apply to drivers using hands-free models and would exempt motorists using handheld cell phones in emergencies. And the legislation would remain in effect only until July 1, 2011, unless renewed.
"Cell phones are the No. 1 cause of distracted-driving accidents in California," said Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, who authored the bill as well as five previous versions.
"Accidents by drivers using handheld phones outnumber those driving hands-free by a ratio of 25 to 1," he said. "The difference between hands-free and handheld is life and death."
If SB 1613 is approved during the last week of the legislative session, it would go to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for consideration.
Schwarzenegger spokesman Darrel Ng said Friday that the Governor's Office "is actively working with the author on the bill."
In working on the bill for the past six years, Simitian has managed to eliminate most of the opposition to the measure. The exception is Sprint Nextel, which issued a statement saying the bill "fails to address the real public issue of inattentive driving."
(Excerpt) Read more at dailynews.com ...
Leave it to Nanny Cops to discover a new way to Tax
TT
Next on the list?
Dont have a cell phone or use one while driving, and definatly dont live in the land of fruits and nuts so I say....double those fines!!!
I've seen women put on makeup while driving!
All forms of distracted driving should be prohibited. Why single out just one type?
Nanny State Ping List Material?
How's your day going?
"a," said Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto"
Democrats love to tell us how to behave.
We should just ban cars or have a 5 mph speed limit to ensure everyones safety.
Absolutely! And good looking women walking down the sidewalk should be arrested. Can't have possible distractions, y'know.
hmmm.. i heard a while back that nose picking was a major
cause of traffic accidents. outlaw noses in moving vehicles?
In North Dallas many years ago, I was bumped 5 or 6 times by a woman driver who was doing the makeup thing. I waited till she got the lipstick up to her mouth and backed into her. Nice red streak up the side of her face.
not touching that with your finger.
I agree wholeheartedly. Zombies on cell phones are just as dangerous as drunk drivers.
While a call making ban could never be enforced, at the very least, calls should be made hands-free.
Yeah, they ought to ban driving by the handicapped!
(I'm allowed to say that because I'm a temporary honorary handicapped driver :-)
It doesnt matter whether the cell phone is hand held or not. The problem is that when they are talking on the phone they are not paying full time and attention to their driving.
If you want to talk --pull over and talk then drive on.
Or perhaps like drunks, get a designated drivier with no phone, then you can talk all the way there and all the way back
(No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo! )
Arguments about personal liberty notwithstanding, I have seen WAY too many drivers going down the road with cellphones glued to the sides of their heads, yakking away, babbling away, yelling, shouting, laughing, you name it, and they are BARELY paying attention to the operation of their vehicle and the traffic around them, they are either driving way too fast because their "in-flight conversation" has them aggravated, or they're driving way too slow because they're having a nice mellow mutual murmur with the object of their affections at the other end of the circuit.
The result? We have MORE traffic accidents and fatalities because unlike picking one's nose, unlike taking a drink from a cup of coffee, etc., using a cellphone (with the possible exception of handsfree models) requires as much (or in the cases of some drivers, MORE) concentration than it does to operate the motor vehicle itself.
Ask yourself how you would feel about your airline pilot on any commercial flight, talking away on a cellphone while transporting you from point A to point B at about 35,000 feet? You want him talking, or do you want him flying?
Just like a firearm, a motor vehicle is capable of unleashing vast death and destruction if it is not operated properly and with wisdom. When driving, it is our expectation as a society that drivers should be paying attention to what they're doing. You wanna talk on the damn phone? Pull over and talk on your cellphone, or go without a cellphone and use an old style payphone.
That's exactly what I do. I don't own a cellphone and I enjoy the uninterrupted peace and tranquility it brings.
And I pay 100 percent of my attention to driving when I'm behind the wheel.
In a perfect world people would realize that cellphones whilst driving are not a good idea and would use them when necessary. As it is now they will talk for the sake of talking - nothing that couldn't wait. So....help me Nanny. WE GET THE GUBMINT WE DESERVE. I sometimes wish that I could be immune from gubmint intrusion...make that ALWAYS wish...SSZ
Amen to that! ! !
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