California Senate Bill 1613 (SB1613) Will Require California Drivers to use a "Hands Free" device

California's "Hands Free" Cell Telephone Law

Thanks to Golden State Senate Bill 1613 (SB1613) signed side Gov. Matthew Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006, Californians will have got to set down their cell telephone while drive and go hands-free by July 1st 2008.

The bill, brought forward by Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, necessitates automobilists to utilize a hands-free device when using a cell telephone while driving. The new law will enforce a mulct of $20 for a first-time discourtesy and a $50 mulct for each further offense. The measure lets exclusions for telephone calls to law enforcement federal agencies for exigency purposes, or exigency services force while operating an authorised exigency vehicle.

In improver to these exceptions, commercial motortruck drivers, tow motortruck drivers and operators of agriculture vehicles are also exempt.

The inquiry for many Californians' volition be: How can I go custody free?

Becoming custody free agency you are talking on your cell phone while driving, yet both of your hand's are still on the guidance wheel. Actually, you can have got only one manus on the guidance wheel, as long as the other manus is not on a cell phone.

Interestingly, you can still eat the cheeseburger and french fries from your favourite fast nutrient eating house with one hand, while you maneuver with the other manus without getting a ticket. Same travels for putting on makeup, brushing your teeth, trimming your olfactory organ hairs and other single-handed impulsive wonts too disgustful to mention…but Iodine digress.

So, how make you go custody free?

Well my Golden State friend, there's more than one manner to go custody free.

1. Abstinence ( don't utilize your cell telephone while driving)

2. Speaker Telephone (yell loud when your in your auto alone, and do others believe you're a schizophrenic)

3. Use a bluetooth radio device. ( you know, those things that people lodge in their ear's)

4. Use a "wired" headset. ( most economical, ear buds plugged into your cell phone)

5. Install a "car kit" ( talking loud when your in the auto alone, and do others believe you're a schizophrenic)

While the argument over whether sb1613 will do Golden State roadstead any safer continues, many believe that even though there are other distractions that cause driver inattentiveness, sb1613 will turn to one of the more than seeable grounds for driver negligence.

How many accidents are really caused by distracted cell telephone drivers? That depends on who you ask. According to a Harvard University survey in 2002, 5% of all traffic accidents are caused by distracted cell telephone users. Golden State Highway Patrol statistics demo that cell-phone usage is the top cause of accidents triggered by distracted drivers going all the manner back to 2001. At the bill-signing ceremonial in Oakland, Governor Schwarzenegger said;

"The simple fact is, it's dangerous to speak on your cell telephone while driving," "So getting people's custody off their telephones and onto their guidance wheels is going to do a large difference in route safety."

While it's difficult to reason with the Govenator, Dash Nextel would implore to differ as the lone cell telephone company opposed to sb1613.

Sprint Nextel

"SB1613 neglects to turn to the existent populace issue of inattentive drive and singles out just one potentiality distraction, the hand-held radio phone," said a missive from Dash Nextel to the governor request for his veto. "It disregards many other more than important causes of inattentive driving, including drowsiness, smoking, and adjusting the radio/CD player. And it neglects to separate between inexperienced teen drivers, who may be easily distracted, and experienced grownup drivers whose experience and adulthood do them completely capable of operating an car safely while speech production on a radio phone."

Good points on both sides, however, the measure have passed and will travel unrecorded in July of 2008. It will be interesting to see how many drivers will actually be pulled over for cell telephone violations. The fact is, today I drive down the streets and main roads in Golden State and it looks almost everyone have a telephone to their ear, frankly, I don't believe there will be adequate law enforcement resources to ticket all sb1613 violators.

For $20 or $50, some people will likely chance and go on to utilize their cell telephone on the road. And for some of us, we welcome the interruption in connectivity for a change. In my human race of technology, I'm wired to the human race all twenty-four hours at work, on the manner place with my cell telephone and wired once again from my computing machine at home, as of July of 2008 my thrust clip is going to improve.