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Using your cell phone after July 1st could get you a $20 ticket (up to $100 in LA County after fees and the such). But if you cause an accident that ends in someone's death, a misdemeanor manslaughter charge could come with that, resulting with a year in jail for each death, reports the LA Times. That's because driving while talking on a cell phone (except for when using a hands-free device) can more easily be proved as negligence because of the law. Before, lawyers had to prove that the cell phone use was negligent.
Although using a cell phone will be illegal, the most distracting part (unless you're a crackberry expert) will still be lawful. From the CHP's cell phone driving FAQ sheet:
Q: Does the new “hands-free” law prohibit you from dialing a wireless telephone while driving or just talking on it?
A: The new law does not prohibit dialing, but drivers are strongly urged not to dial while driving.
Q: Does the new “hands-free” law allow drivers 18 and over to text page while driving?
A: The law does not specifically prohibit that, but an officer can pull over and issue a citation to a driver of any age if, in the officer’s opinion, the driver was distracted and not operating the vehicle safely. Text paging while driving is unsafe at any speed and is strongly discouraged.
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"Q: Does the new “hands-free” law allow drivers 18 and over to text page while driving?
A: The law does not specifically prohibit that, but an officer can pull over and issue a citation to a driver of any age if, in the officer’s opinion, the driver was distracted and not operating the vehicle safely. Text paging while driving is unsafe at any speed and is strongly discouraged."
this is going to be so subjective....
if they pull someone over who looks under 18 and isn't,they will just use this as an excuse to cite. not that i'm a terrible driver...
but a lot of asians will probably get cited haha
Great... so now maybe there will be fewer Metro buses running red lights while the drivers talk on their cell phones.
... But probably not.
Yeah, samkim, it will be very subjective. So everyone should still use their turn signals and not tailgate, something some officers use to determine which of two speeder they will pull over. Drivers that speed, but use smarts can sometimes get away with it.
I plan on driving around July 1 with my cellphone at the ready; slowly roll up to a squad car and start shooting video from my phone. I will do no talking whatsoever nor will my hands be anywhere near my ears.
So let me get this right. You can dial but not text - yes?
So you get pulled over texting - whats stopping you from using the "being on a call punching numbers into a menu system" excuse.
Or the - " I was dialing internationally "
Or the - " I was emailing, technically not texting"
Or the - " Law says nothing about surfing the web "
Or the - " I was changing my ringtone/settings/theme"
Frankly, every phone on the market (that I know of anyway) has the facility for voice tags. You can buy headsets for just about every phone out on the market. There should be NO excuse for using your cellphone *handset* while driving.
Incidentally, I love how you need to kill someone to actually make it a misdemeanor. Otherwise its $100 bucks ($20+fees) - what a joke.
Driving with a cellphone *handset* in use should be banned completely with a misdemeanor for breaking that law and actual standard vehicular manslaughter for causing a death while driving on a cellphone. Vehicular Manslaughterapparently carries up to 10 years in this state.
Whereas your average misdemeanor ranges from "Indecent Exposure" to dodging rail fares. Hmm, a little light on the penalty there wouldnt you say?
I only hope no loved one of the ass that wrote this piece of legislation gets killed on a crossing by an asshole "dialling" on his cellphone.
I hope that when collisions and accidents skyrocket since everyone is forced to text now, they'll get rid of this retarded law.
or they'll add texting to it?