Cell phone bill, text message ban signed into law | KOMO-TV – Seattle, Washington | Local & Regional — I’ve been sitting on this post since the law was passed some days ago. I’ve been sitting on it because I cannot believe that anyone actually drives and does text messaging. Do you?
Hang up or pay up: Using your hands to talk on the phone or tap out a text message while behind the wheel of a car will be illegal next year.
Gov. Chris Gregoire signed the measures into law Friday, flanked by children who suffered serious injuries after being hit by distracted drivers.
Under the new laws, drivers who read and compose text messages or talk on a cell phone without a hands-free device could face a $101 ticket. The text-messaging ban takes effect Jan. 1; the cell-phone law will be enforced starting in July 2008.
Drivers are exempt in some situations, including emergencies, and neither offense will be enough to get a driver pulled over by the police.
But parents of children injured in collisions with such drivers said the new laws are still a major improvement.
15.. Um…
You’ve obviously never been around anyone who drives for a living.. Of course people still use C.B.s.. good buddy.. How do you you think truckers find out where all the wrecks and smokeys are?
That “hows my driving” number on the back of trucks, isn’t to the truckers cell phone.
Why does any city NEED another law? Doesn’t “reckless driving” cover every mobile violation, even if you don’t have an accident.
And how is this helpful:
“Drivers are exempt in some situations, including emergencies, and neither offense will be enough to get a driver pulled over by the police.”
So, will interpretations of these exemptions create MORE court trials and lawsuits?
I think a law should be created to stop lawyers, in the form of politicians, from making more redundant laws.
21. 10-4 rubber duck.
#22 – Why does any city NEED another law? Doesn’t “reckless driving” cover every mobile violation, even if you don’t have an accident.
I agree with that point. Another law for something was already covered…
Reckless Operation will get you pulled over… Thus if a cop sees you with a cell phone to your ear or pushing the buttons on your cell phone, he/she should pull you over and issue you a citation. Will that create a lot of pissed off motorists? Yes. Do I Care? Not in the least.
No matter what you think, you are wrong if you think you are safely operating a moving motor vehical while texting.
I tend to think hands free operation is safe but I’m not an expert in the field, or the paramedic that scrapes brains off of windshields, so if they say to cut it out, well… there is nothing you have to say to me that can’t wait till I stop the car.
It’s been shown, conclusively, that it’s not dialling or holding the phone that is the distraction; it’s the concentration given to the conversation that diverts one’s attention away from conscious awareness of hazardous situations…
Think about it – don’t we all know people who, once they’re talking on the phone, wouldn’t notice if a bomb went off, they’re so utterly oblivious to everything going on around them?
And texting diverts even more mental resources than simply speaking, so it really is that much more dangerous.
#25…Lauren…..I just read sometime in the last couple weeks the results of several independently done research groups that it seems the conversation is the real danger. They all found that hands free is no more safe than holding the phone device.
Being a complete Luddite on the matter of cell phones, I may be a bit biased, but you could ban them completely tomorrow and I would cheer.
But I do understand that for a very limited few the cellphone is a good thing. Doctors, rescue workers, self employed who work away from their home or office all day, off duty police or fire personal. But the vast majority of cell phone use is just plain stupid, vainity.
#12 – ethanol,
Wasn’t there an urban legend about a guy in an RV that put on the cruise control and went to make a cup of coffee? (thought it was auto-pilot or some such)
I doubt it was true, but it’s just close enough to sound almost believable.
#26 – But the vast majority of cell phone use is just plain stupid, vainity.
You mean vanity?
And no… It isn’t.
Cells phones are brilliant idea and good for everyone.
While I would argue that your teenage daughter doesn’t need one and that guy having a loud conversation while walking through the mall is actually a jerk…
But cell phones completely replace land lines and are untethered, which means I can use my phone while I’m shopping, in the event of an emergency anytime, anyplace, to make reservations or to address a customer service need, without being tied to my home.
What makes you think a cell phone appeals to my vanity when any chump off the street can get a cell phone?
Sometimes ATC gets honked when I don’t answer immediately. Since they’re on the ground drinking coffee and I’m at altitude fighting turbulence, t-storms, busted navs in IFR, etc., they can just wait. I’ll talk when I’m good and ready. “Center, stand by one” seems to work just fine.
Rule #1 – “fly your airplane” should be extended to “drive your car.”
Sorry, it’s just difficult for me to imagine texting while driving. How absurd. If I ever catch my grandniece doing that, adios phone!
#28, OFTLO, I don’t have a land line either, so a cell phone is a necessity. Vanity? Mine’s three years old, and I disable the ringer in public. Isn’t that called courtesy? Joshua, just out of curiosity did you consider that?
This is a start… I think ALL cellphone calling should be outlawed. (yes! even hands free)
People on the phone are not concentrating on the driving.
Even more important than their hands, is their MIND which is not on their driving.
But, for my idea to work, there needs to be an infrastructure of places to pull off the road and talk. I’d pay for this with a tax on cell phones. The cell companies would howl bloody murder but they can afford it.
#30, Greg Allen,
There’s no study about a driver conversing with passengers vs. drivers talking on a phone. But my $1 Louis is on the danger of talking or (Good Grief !! texting) on the cellphone since it requires a large portion of the mind to visualize the person on the other end of the conversation.
Now that would be an interesting study. Help me write the grant and we’re in. (Hey you kids !! Settle down or I’m stopping this car !! )
Debating cell phone laws is silly. Its all RECKLESS DRIVING.
Eating a burger and fries with no hands on the wheel.
Changing your infants diaper in the front seat with one hand.
Puting on make-up using the rear-view mirror while moving.
Grasping at the pile of music cds on the floorboard.
Turning around to discipline your screaming brats.
Having sex while driving. (You know it happens.)
There is no difference between these distractions and using a cell phone. Stop making new laws, and enforce the old ones.
Breaking News:
“one California State Senator Carole Migden — former voter for a state bill that fines people for using their cellphones while driving — rear-ended her state-issued SUV into a Honda sedan on Highway 12 in Solano County, today. While on her phone. The driver of the Honda was taken to the hospital with minor injuries, although the most painful aspect of this story is surely the jaws-of-life-biting irony.”
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/18/BAG9MPTMU88.DTL
Devine justice is sweet….
Read carefully. They have no intention of enforcing this.
“neither offense will be enough to get a driver pulled over by the police”
That means when you run a red light, speed, or have an accident, and THEN they noticed you were on your phone, you owe an extra $100.
The only change I would make is a requirement of reasonable suspicion that the cell phone use contributed to the accident.
Plenty people can talk on the phone and drive just fine. The studies tend to rely on the assumption that no matter what happens on the road, the driver will continue to give their conversation their full attention. This is nonsense.
Sirefelix,
You make a good point about this already being covered under a blanket “Unsafe Driving” or “Reckless Driving”. The danger is that cell phones have become so ingrained in our society that it becomes more difficult to prosecute and easier to defend that using a cell phone isn’t as unsafe or reckless as we believe. To have that action defined negates this defense.
I too have read reports of police writing tickets for eating cereal and milk, dressing, applying make-up, inserting contact lenses, and other plainly stupid moves. Sometimes though, the old laws don’t adequately address today’s situations.
As well as cell phones being a distraction, how about those who sing along with their sound system, or whose sound system is so loud their brain vibrates.
Anyone, anytime who is observed or admits to using a telephone WHILE THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE DRIVING A DAMNED CAR!!!! ought to have their driver’s license instantly suspended (i.e. ripped up in front of them by a cop).
If there’s no-one else in the car with a valid driver’s license, the car should then be tagged and towed.
Even if it doesn’t solve the problem, the city fathers and mothers will be overjoyed with the income from the tickets and the impound charges.
‘As well as cell phones being a distraction, how about those who sing along with their sound system, or whose sound system is so loud their brain vibrates. ”
Oh man, that is a huge one. Not only does it deafen and distract the driver, but every car around him. I love music but there is something about that deep throbbing base vibrating the rear view mirrors on my vehicle that goes to my deepest anger.
#32 – Having sex while driving. (You know it happens.)
Do I ever…
Boom chicka wah wah…
Driving down Mountlake Blvd here in Seattle (source of the law / story) the guy in the car next to me was reading the Seattle Times, folded over the steering wheel, while driving.
It’s hard to underestimate the intelligence one may encounter on the roads. Text messaging — why not?
Wow…. I recently moved from Ct where a hands-free law is already in effect. You see, the problem is people seem to think we already have those amazing cars like in “I Robot”…. While I agree texting, reading, putting on make-up, yelling at children, etc are all unnecessary tasks that people do while driving I also understand that sometimes it seems nessecary and for some a daily routine. Each driver needs to come to a realization that no one is perfect and that not everyone feels the same way you do about everything…. just cause you cant stand cell phones doesn’t mean this doesn’t apply to you.