Calif. Governor Signs Law to Ban Teen Cell Phone Use While Driving
West News • September 14, 2007
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed SB 33 by Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, banning teenage drivers from using all electronic devices -- such as cell phones, pagers and laptops -- while ...
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Subject: RE: Two Comments
Posted On: September 14, 2007, 6:29 pm CDT
Posted By: lastbat
Comment:
Mike, this law is worthless and Arnie is an idiot for supporting it.
DWT, in order:
1) This law is not enforceable because there are hands-free devices and everything else can be kept below the steering wheel. It is very difficult to see what people are doing below window level from a standard police cruiser - especially if the other person is driving an SUV or truck. The penalty is also not worth a hill of beans. As umpiire pointed out most teens spend more than $20/month on texting alone. And the $50 isn't much better. It would have to involve hundreds of dollars and license suspension to get anyone's attention.
2) The law should be tossed out, not applied across the board. There is no way to rid the road of distractions. Recent NTSB reports show that talking on a cell phone is just as bad as a number of things: using a hands-free device, operating the radio, eating, texting, talking to a passenger, and drunk driving. You notice how anything not involved with actual driving is just as bad as driving drunk? We are not going to stop any of those things from occuring so should stop wasting our money on trying. We will have to come to a point soon when we accept that there is inherent risk in driving and that when we get on the road we accept that risk.
West News 
Subject: RE: Two Comments
DWT, in order:
1) This law is not enforceable because there are hands-free devices and everything else can be kept below the steering wheel. It is very difficult to see what people are doing below window level from a standard police cruiser - especially if the other person is driving an SUV or truck. The penalty is also not worth a hill of beans. As umpiire pointed out most teens spend more than $20/month on texting alone. And the $50 isn't much better. It would have to involve hundreds of dollars and license suspension to get anyone's attention.
2) The law should be tossed out, not applied across the board. There is no way to rid the road of distractions. Recent NTSB reports show that talking on a cell phone is just as bad as a number of things: using a hands-free device, operating the radio, eating, texting, talking to a passenger, and drunk driving. You notice how anything not involved with actual driving is just as bad as driving drunk? We are not going to stop any of those things from occuring so should stop wasting our money on trying. We will have to come to a point soon when we accept that there is inherent risk in driving and that when we get on the road we accept that risk.