California to bar teens from using mobiles, laptops whilst driving
By Darren Murph 
posted August 30th 2007 7:53AM
posted August 30th 2007 7:53AM
California certainly won't go down as the first place to ban cellphones whilst driving, but if Governor Schwarzenegger signs a new bill into law, mobiles won't be the only thing teens can't operate while behind the wheel after July 1, 2008. The bill, which was overwhelmingly approved by the Assembly, prevents anyone "under the age of 18 from using their cellphone," even with handsfree devices; as if that wasn't enough, any "mobile service device" -- such as "walkie-talkies, pagers, two-way messaging devices, PDAs, and laptops" -- will also be illegal for teens under 18 to use while driving. If signed into law, violators will reportedly be fined "$20 for the first offense, and $50 for subsequent offenses with no violation points on the driver's record."[Via Textually]
Oh. My. God. And I thought the law was a joke in jolly ol' England.
$20 fine? And only for under 18s? WTF?
Here, using a handheld phone while driving results in an immediate £60 ($120) fine with 3 points on your licence - the same penalty as speeding. Though handsfree kits are fine, the cops can still pull you over if they feel you were being "distracted" by a handsfree call.
I'm currently in India, despite the world-famous crazy Indian driving here, people still pull over to answer a phone call (mostly). Why Americans seem to be incapable of this is still beyond me.
This is mad!
Here in the UK everyone is banned from using mobile phones whilst driving. It's obvious if you've got one hand on the steering wheel and another holding your phone and your just chatting you're bound to have a crash. This barely even passes as news really, apart form the absurdity of it. Having a petty fine is a stupid punishment too, there should be much stricter rules there
And yet, cops have laptops that are set up to be used by the driver. And there are messages contantly being sent to the driver. I find it completely hypocritical that the people who enforced the ban, are doing what the government doesn't want kids to do. And on top of the laptops, now cops are going to be distracted looking for other people who are distracted. These laws are BRILLIANT!
I agree with the idea behind it, but there needs to be a more definitive level of distraction than just driving with a cell phone plastered to one ear.
Brian,
First, those laptops are primarily used while stationary. They display information such as wants and warrants as well as registration info as needed. The officer can also often get the same information via radio if needed, and often will.
Second, the PD and other Emergency Personnel all have a great deal more training in vehicle operations than the average teen. Police in particular have a very large amount of training in vehicle operations, most notably in high speed vehicle control and the requisite multi-tasking in any emergency vehicle (Wheel in one hand, the other hand on the siren controls, mike, etc).
In the real world, one needs to realize that everyone can make mistakes, from the 16.5 y.o. driver with his paper license to the veteran responder who has more time in an emergency vehicle than his own bed. The biggest thing is that these mistakes tend to cluster around distraction, and particularly in regard to new drivers who do not have enough experience behind the wheel.
Also, Lotus, the under 25 group, particularly males have the highest accident rate. The early senior years are actually relatively safe in terms of MVC's.