Governor Schwarzenegger to Sign Cell Phone Law

[951-Riverside]

...the power of cellphone lobbyists

OAKLAND, CA (AP) -- Governor Schwarzenegger is set to sign a new law making it illegal to talk on a cell phone while driving, unless your using a hands-free device.

The governor is scheduled to appear in a ceremony in Oakland, where he will put his signature on a bill requiring the use of the hands-free technology while driving and using a cell phone.

The new law is scheduled to go into effect on July 1, 2008. The new ordinance states

http://www.knx1070.com/pages/83763.php?contentType=4&contentId=206095

[William769]

1. Well it's about time he did something right!

[Kikosexy2]

20. Wonderful...

now hopefully people will shut up and DRIVE!

[Matariki]

2. 'bout time.

hope that starts a national trend. I can't believe how many times some oblivious asshole yacking on their cell has almost hit me. Good thing *one* of us was paying attention.

[AndyA]

3. I wish all states would do this. Cell phones are dangerous when mixed

with operating a motor vehicle.

I almost had a guy pull into me yesterday, and I wondered what the heck he was doing.

Dialing a cell phone.

More important than driving a steel box at 50 mph, apparently...

[Kikosexy2]

22. .And he said "whatever"...

and I said "whatever"...then he said "whatever"..."I love chewing gum"..."I think we should like ban tuna on Fridays"...ya' know...

[Vidar]

4. Good.

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

5. 23 Months....I Can't Wait

Glad they are making progress. I'll be looking forward to it going into effect TWO YEARS FROM NOW!

[MsKandice01]

6. I still don't think that the actual HOLDING of the cell phone

Is the problem. If you're distracted by talking on a cell phone, you're still gonna be distracted whether you're using a handsfree device or not.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

11. Actually, holding the phone can be...

a HUGE problem! I drive a scooter and was once riding behind a small car that was veering off so much I thought the person was drunk. I was stuck behind them for several blocks, watching as they careened back and forth across the lane. I finally had enough and decided to use a side street to get away from this jackass. A few blocks away I ran into this person AGAIN at a 4 way stop, and I got to see why they had been all over the lane:

This idiot woman was driving a manual transmittion while talking on the phone -- she has holding her cell in her RIGHT HAND and shifting gears with her LEFT HAND. Every time she shifted, the car went all over the lane. From the way her car was moving, I don't think she was even trying to keep her car straight by using her knee on the wheel.

I have been riding since 1986 and, since the mass use of cell phones, I have had easily triple the problems with idiots trying to merge into my lane from my right -- cell phone uses often have their phone in their left hands and block their peripheral vision with their hand and the phone.

I for one am thrilled this ban is happening -- I just wish it were next year instead of 08.

[Scairp]

36. I agree

I think this will help tremendously with distracted drivers holding the phone to their ear while trying in vain to pay attention to the road. I swear, every single time I am on the freeway and some idiot is going 60 MPH in the far left lane, I pass them and see that they are on the phone. It's dangerous, much more so than anything else one might encounter while driving. I also don't understand why it's going to take until '08 to implement. We need it NOW.

[Massacure]

14. What about talking to a passenger though? Whats the difference?

[Ravenseye]

18. Studies showed a difference

While talking to a passenger DOES degrade a person's driving, it doesn't do it as much as talking on the phone for some reason.

Talking on the phone, headset or not, talking to another passenger, eating, grooming, etc...all big distractions. Interestingly they all have different effects too. Some make you accelerate or decelarte more slowly, while others like the phone make you not look around at your mirrors as much.

[LeftyMom]

28. The difference

is that the passenger in the car is aware of your surroundings and will generally shut up and let the driver concentrate during a tricky maneuver, when merging, etc. Still a distraction, but probably much less dangerous.

[Nevernose]

34. Five billion years of evolution.

We were meant to be speaking to a human being; we evolved that way. When we're talking into a telephone, we're talking to, well, NOT a human being.

A passenger rewuires that we invoke all kinds of little subconscious sub-routines. Glancing over one in a while. Peripheral vision. Even the ACTUAL sound of an unseen human voice in the backseat being broadcast at the purest quality, from the exact proper direction.

But a disembodied voice that one actually has to pay attention to (unlike the easily-ignored radio)? All of a sudden we have to pay closer attention to the cell phone voice, taking away valuable resources from the part of our brain that is driving the car.

Give it ten thousand years, then see how things work out.

[Seabiscuit]

42. You're all on the right track...

But studies have shown that the biggest distraction of all is the fact that when talking on a cell phone in the car, the driver's mind is NOT in the car or focusing on driving conditions. The driver's mind is OUT THERE in the space occupied by the person he/she is talking to - it is with that person somewhere else, in a place imagined by the driver. The voice the driver is listening to is coming from the little box held to the ear - from somewhere else.

While talking to a passenger in the car, the driver's mind is still in the car on the road.

[Ravenseye]

17. Your thoughts are backed up by research

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/08/15/060815161706.0xbugxlr.html

It's not the holding of the phone that's the problem, it's the talking on the phone part. Heads free sets do nothing to improve. You just shouldn't talk on the phone while driving. Period.

[MsKandice01]

7. Your/You're confusion...my #1 pet peeve

Just had to say that because it's driving me crazy.

[Le Taz Hot]

8. I wish people wouldn't talk on their cell phones

and drive at the same time anyway. Regardless of hands-free devices. I know, I know, you need it for business, etc., I'm a frequent pedestrian and when crossing the street, I'm always leary when I see someone talking on their cell phone while I'm in the crosswalk. I can't tell you how many times I've had to jump back up on the curb because princess can't walk and chew gum at the same time much less drive and use a phone. I almost got hit yesterday while driving in my F-150 by someone talking on their cell phone. How the hell you miss seeing something that big I'll never know.

[wtmusic]

9. 2008?? How about immediately?

and a fine of $20? What kind of token bullshit is this?

[stepnw1f]

10. What Are We Campaigning for this Guy?! (nt)

[951-Riverside]

12. Yes.

...Noooooo, :P I just wanted to point out to that this law won't be enacted until mid 2008, When CNN, Evening "news", etc reports this they will purposely omit this little detail.

[stepnw1f]

39. I Know, I know

I should have placed a Sarcasm thingy in my post. :P

[MindPilot]

13. Will the law apply to cops talking on their radios?

[951-Riverside]

29. ....or their laptop computers? n/t

[bluestateguy]

15. I must signal my support for this law

Too many idiots (usually Soccer Mommies and Yuppies who think they are really important and chatty teenagers) are becoming careless drivers because they are holding a phone while driving.

[hogwyld]

16. I wish they'd just outlaw cellphones while driving PERIOD!

You wanna talk? Pull the friggin' car off of the road. I never use the cell while driving. I'll pull into a parking lot first. But what the hell do I know? I'm just a grumpy 'ol man.

[goclark]

19. 08?! This is horrible!

A lady almost backed into me while talking on her cell phone and coming out of her drive way!

08 is an insult to the safety of the public. :puke:

[Megahurtz]

21. This is a good thing.

I don't know why people haven't been using hands-free setups all along.
I have only used a cell phone maybe twice in a car and it felt totally awkward.
It's as if I couldn't walk and chew gum at the same time or something.:silly:

[savemefromdumbya]

23. probably won't be popular with the cell phone users?

hard to catch people - you can only report them

[PeaceProgProsp]

24. Califonrnians spend so much time in their cars -- this will cost Corps

a lot of money.

That's why it's not going to happen for 2 years.

[brentspeak]

25. The day I saw a woman driving an SUV holding a cigarette in one hand

and talking into a cell phone held by her other hand, I realized that we need a nationwide hands-free device law.

[pinniped]

26. THis shit should become active now.

.

[lumberjack_jeff]

27. Maybe he ought to make it against the law to ride a motorcycle...

... without a license.

It's already against the law? Oops.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/01/11/state/n164132S32.DTL

[slackmaster]

30. Too bad it doesn't take effect immediately

I don't understand why they would wait almost two years for something so obviously needed.

I drive on California freeways often, and see drivers distracted by talking on cell phones almost daily.

[Raine]

31. Good...

I just wish it took effect immediately but seems these laws never do.

[leesa]

32. It's a start. It'll piss off a lot of phone addicts though.

Hands-free is OK but isn't dialing still a problem? I don't use a cell phone at all and I seem to be able to survive just fine.

[Maat]

45. I have the Bluetooth hands-free device ... it is integrated into ..

my Toyota Prius.

The Prius is a car built around a computer.

"Blue" (that's my car's name) does not permit me to dial when the car is moving. I have to pull over in order to dial a number.

True, I can talk while moving, but I have found that it is much like the passenger situation; I can tell the person on the other end of the phone when I need a pause in the conversation.

Truthfully, it has made me much safer on the road. I love it! I believe that this is a good thing. And, due to my business, I'm having to be on the phone fairly regularly (plus talking to the husband and the child). The whole setup makes things much safer.

[PurityOfEssence]

33. Fine by me.

It's become ridiculous here in L.A.

Using a mobile phone while on an open freeway is one thing, but the endless idiots yakking while parking or negotiating surface street driving have caused me quite a few close calls.

The "hands free" issue doesn't really address the real problem: most people can't really multi-task as much as they think they can, and research confirms this. Still, it's a step in the right direction.

Pull the fuck over if it's an urgent call, and if it isn't, call them later.

The sheer selfishness of people is breathtaking.

I work in a profession where I should be talking on the damned thing endlessly while driving, but I still pull over when called except when on a straight run on an uncrowded street or freeway. Call it bigotry, but I can't imagine that most of these conversations I see which create hazards are really all that important. I almost hit a bicyclist who was yammering away on a mobile phone while riding on the sidewalk and sailing through an intersection where I was making a left today. Was that call necessary? Besides all that, bicyclists aren't supposed to ride on sidewalks, they're supposed to be on the far right lane and obeying auto traffic laws.

I can't even count the close calls I've had by people engrossed in their personal business, and I'd be quite surprised if most of them weren't vapid chatter.

Ban the damned things.

[phrenzy]

35. Phone Hypocrites?

I wonder how many people finger wagging about people on phones in the car have done so themselves. I installed a speakerphone system in my car, and if you think this is no better than fumbling with a handheld phone (and often trying to DIAL it) then you are disconnected from reality.

As far as distractions, there are many others - Kids in the car, multiple people in a car, eating in a car, drinking water in a car, listening to talk radio (and getting mad), etc. Those can all easily reach higher distraction levels than talking on a handsfree device.

IMO, anything that takes your HANDS off the wheel and your EYES off the road should be the threshold. Dialing / Holding a cell phone meets that requirement. Talking on a speakerphone would not.

[Seabiscuit]

41. This bill doesn't affect hands-free phones. It merely addresses

hand-held phones which, as you note, take hands off of steering wheels and eyes off the road.

[tomhayes]

37. Are there stats on *ACTUAL* accidents?

I've seen the studies of people talking on the phone being more likely to crash, but I've not see any stats on actual car crashes that phone use was a contributing factor.

Frankly, I think *I* drive fine while on the phone. I know that driving is more important from talking and I do let the phone drop if I need to concentrate more on driving. I also know that some people think talking on the phone is more important than driving.

I'm interrested in seeing the numbers.

Also, does this law cover "texting"?

[yasmina27]

38. From personal experience

I never talk on a cell phone while in the car. I'll just let whoever leave a voice-mail if necessary.

This past summer, my sister & I took my mom & my 2 daughters on a road-trip to FL (dad passed last Dec.). Knowing my mom & sister can't live w/o their cells, I hooked mine up (finally) to our bluetooth in-car phone. It was really cool. A call came in - we hit answer, then any or all of us could talk w/o using the phone itself.

But I have to say that - traveling 70 mph - IT WAS STILL DISTRACTING - at least for me when I was driving. Maybe just because I wasn't used to it. I don't know.

[Seabiscuit]

40. 2008? And how many accidents will be caused by people driving while

using hand-held cell phones by then?

Why on earth the wait? These people are worse than drunk drivers and far more dangerous to people's safety.

[Exiled in America]

43. You guys are pretty hypocritical

One of the things that cracks me up about this community is the irrationality of most group-shared opinions. So the majory of folks here seem to lament the intrusiveness of a goverment that wants to pass many restrictive laws, or circumvent our freedoms, or try to take over our own right to make personal decisions about what we need to do to be safe, or responsible, etc.

Until it comes to things like this. When its the usual suspects of pet peeves of we folks on the left - whether its smokers, or people using cell phones or whatever, all of the suddent everyone is cheering about a law-happy state.

Of course as many times as you've talked about seeing a bad driver using a cell phone, you've also seen a responsible driver using a cell phone responsibly. People have been using communications devices in cars for years. The CB radio for one, police use radios and laptops all while driving. Some of them do so responsibly. Some don't.

The same is true for cell phones. You've got people like me, who sometimes talk on a cell phone for brief periods of times while driving if its necessary. But only depending on where I'm driving and many other factors. I also make the conscious choice not to use a cell phone sometimes while driving, depending on where I am and what the drive is like. That's called being responsible.

Its no different that people who talk on CB radio, or hold a soda drink while driving, or are talking to a friend in the car. Any one of those things brings the possibility of inattentiveness while driving, which could cause an accident. But any one of those things can also be done responsibly.

The answer is not some ridiculous all-or-nothing law. The answer is case by case law enforcement. If someone drives carelessly and is using a cell phone - then fine them for inattentive driving. It somone is driving very appropriately, and using a cell phone - something that happens all the time as well - then they don't need yet another intrustive law from the government telling them what to do.

[Bill McBlueState]

44. you said it better than I could

And it's weird that it took 43 posts for a sentiment like yours to come up.

New York has had a law against using a phone while driving for a couple years now. Most of my driving in New York is in the form of a three-hour trip across the almost-deserted Southern Tier Expressway. I think a two-minute phone call to the people who are waiting for me at the end of my journey fits into an entirely different category than a frivolous chat session undertaken in city rush hour traffic.

Anyhow, the problem with these laws is that they use the threat of government intrusion as a quick-fix to something that, depending on the circumstances, may or may not be a problem at all.

[Irreverend IX]

46. Hands-free doesn't make much of a difference.

Talking on a cell phone while driving impairs the spatial awareness needed to drive, since your brain is compelled to model the space the other person is in during a phone conversation. Holding a phone will impair your ability somewhat, but studies have shown that even with hands-free devices, people using cell phones experience a kind of tunnel vision while driving.