Hands Free Law

Just picked up an nX6000 in order to comply while driving. I currently have a love/hate relationship with this particular law :twothumbs :thumbsdow .

It's funny because now there's a re-emergence of people walking around with bluetooth headsets. You know what I'm talking about...the wannabe-stock-broker look. I can't imagine using a bluetooth earpiece in the car. My GPS has bluetooth speaker so I use that for my hands-free option. I might upgrade my stereo system later on with a built-in bluetooth, though, since I hardly use my GPS when I'm just going around town.

We have a similar law that just went into effect up here in WA too. So far I still see a lot of people driving and talking with the phone in their face.
Iirc our law says it is a secondary offense, so one can only get charged with it if a LEO pulls you over for another reason. But I think most up here just aren't remembering or simply dont pay attention and thus don't know.

A few months ago I won a Jawbone bluetooth headset but didn't have a phone to use it with.

We upgraded our phones last week and finally got to try it out in the car.
I love it...no more getting tangled up with the wired version I had for the other phone.

They haven't introduced a hands free law here yet, but they should. They number of idiots yapping on the phone while driving and not paying attention is insane.

It's been around awhile in the UK,don't sing while driving they may get the wrong idea

it's interesting that although they kep telling you first offense is a 20 dollar fine, there are 60 something dollars worth of court and other "costs" that get added on.

sure keeps the clerks employed at the county court house.

270winchester said:

it's interesting that although they kep telling you first offense is a 20 dollar fine, there are 60 something dollars worth of court and other "costs" that get added on.

sure keeps the clerks employed at the county court house.

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It maybe interesting also,the on the spot fines here in the UK are motoring £60,public order £80 hmmm ripped off again

270winchester said:

it's interesting that although they kep telling you first offense is a 20 dollar fine, there are 60 something dollars worth of court and other "costs" that get added on.

sure keeps the clerks employed at the county court house.

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In California the amount of the fine is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what you will actually have to pay. First there is the fine, then there are the Court fees which can be higher than the actuall fine. And then for the people who are to dumb to obey silly traffic laws (or just don't care) they have the "penalty assessment". The penalty assessment is based on a persons prior traffic record. The more convictions you have the higher the penalty. The fine is set by the State. Court fees and penalty assessments are set by the County Courts.

I see from the preliminary stats compiled by CHP since the law took effect July 1st, that the Bay Area has been where 2/3's of all the citations for cellphone use have been issued. That doesn't include the other two cellphone driving laws that went into effect at the same time.

it always makes me intirgued that while there are literally hundreds of unsolved homicides and rapes in the Bay Area alone every year the law enforcement industry has so much man power to go after cell phone law violaters. I guess they have things under control behind the scenes after all...

adamlau said:

Just picked up an nX6000 in order to comply while driving. I currently have a love/hate relationship with this particular law :twothumbs :thumbsdow .

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Trust me. You want to love it.
Have you ever been in a car with someone who was talking on the phone with one hand, had something else in her other hand, likes to gesture when she talks and noticed the car was drifting into the other lane INTO THE PATH OF ANOTHER CAR? Something she had not yet noticed.
That single incident changed my mind.

Why she is alive today is a miracle as she used to fall sleep while driving.

The law might not help much as one major study has shown it is the talking, not the listening or dialing that is the problem.

270winchester said:

it always makes me intirgued that while there are literally hundreds of unsolved homicides and rapes in the Bay Area alone every year the law enforcement industry has so much man power to go after cell phone law violaters. I guess they have things under control behind the scenes after all...

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Same here in the UK I guess car crimes are big business and more of a priority :devil:

Traffic has been strange the last couple of days in my neighborhood. Today I saw a guy pull to a stop in the middle of the road although there was plenty of space to pull over so he wouldn't be blocking the lane. (just a pet peeve of mine). As I walked by I looked at the driver and he was furiously text messaging someone with his little whatever. Not such a big improvement

270winchester said:

it always makes me intirgued that while there are literally hundreds of unsolved homicides and rapes in the Bay Area alone every year the law enforcement industry has so much man power to go after cell phone law violaters. I guess they have things under control behind the scenes after all...

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That's a lot like saying that doctors should stop treating colds because people get cancer.
Most crimes are investigated until either someone is caught or all leads have been exhausted.
Then it gets put aside but not closed.
While in the army I took a report from somebody who claimed he had been beat up and that's as far as it went. Over a year later, talking with somebody about an unrelated crime he made a comment about a fight he had seen and who was involved.
I reopened the original case, called the "victim" in and after a short talk he admitted it had been a fight.
Do you think somebody would not do as least as much for a serious crime?

We should be pretty much in favor of the laws like this in my neck of the woods since we just passed the first anniversary of an accident that claimed the lives of 5 high school girls. It seems that the driver was texting, veered into the path of an oncoming tractor trailer, and that's literally all she wrote. Just imagine the horror of the family and friends. You'd think that would have been a good enough incentive, but no.

There are people who will shop in my store but cannot control their shopping carts while talking on a hands free phone. They run into shelves, displays, and best of all, other people. They never once say "excuse me,' let alone "sorry." These self absorbed morons certainly cannot drive safely but you know they're out there talking and texting while they are on the road.

Distracted driving happens all around me and I have to keep my eyes out for these idiots more and more every day. A hands free device is a better choice, but screw it -- just hang up and drive for crying out loud. That call can wait.

It's been my experience that the talking is as distracting as anything else, but dialing, changing radio stations or CDs or IPOD selections are just as dangerous.

And listening to a Radio Talk Show host whom you dislike can be worse than drinking when it comes to not being able to think straight!

BTW, I called 911 on the way home, then realized my headset was in my pocket (but connected) so they could not hear me. It was worse than holding a phone to my ear.


Daniel

I have seen a number of instances over the years on the highway where people are eating food with one hand, holding a cell phone with the other, gesticulating emotionally, and apparently steering with their knees.

I think the law is just a feel good law like many others. Bad drivers will be bad drivers with or without cellphone, and there are those who would have no problem with driving and holding a cellphone.

I've had a little headset for years. It needed an adapter for my previous phone ($10-20 for an inch of wire and a couple connectors), and when I tried it on my current phone, the phone says that the "enhancement" isn't "supported." I'll probably buy another headset at some point, but right now I'm making do with using the speakerphone function and holding the phone between my shoulder and the seatbelt. I mean, I still have to push a button to answer it, but are there any systems where that's not necessary?

TigerhawkT3 said:

I mean, I still have to push a button to answer it, but are there any systems where that's not necessary?

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I've not seen a cell phone for a long time that can't be set to answer automatically if the headset is plugged in.

What if I don't want to answer every call that's coming in?