Everybody Goin' Hands Free!!
How Can I Prepare Myself?
To make sure that you are being a law abiding citizen when driving around town, visit local vendors, such as any of our local cell phone provider stores, such as T Mobile or Verizon, or Best Buy in the new Diamond Ridge Center. These local stores will be able to provide you with all of the information necessary to ensure that you’re in accordance with the new law.
Penalties?
If you are caught the first time, it is a $20 fine, and every offense following will be $50.
But, But…?
Now there are some exceptions, such as if you are calling 911 or calling a doctor regarding an emergency medical condition. Driving a school bus, farm vehicle or tow truck will also make you exempt.
On a personal note, I’m not sure of what may be to come. I feel that if we are going to start ticketing for not wearing a headset while talking on the phone and driving, we should be penalizing everyone who eats a burger, applies their makeup, or looks for a cd while driving. These seem to be more distracting on the road and pose more of a threat.
Nevertheless, in the grand scheme of things, I suppose it isn’t that tough to comply. It’s always better to be safe then sorry. I understand that this law is meant to keep the roads safer, so I’ll just have to get use to wearing a headset, talking through some plug-in device or simply wait until I get home (not an option for me).
Please click here for more information about this new law.
RoBert
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Reader Comments (2)
As a law-abiding citizen, I plan on abiding... But am I mistaken, or haven't studies shown that it is the distraction of talking on the phone that makes it dangerous and not the physical act of holding a phone? Maybe I'm mistaken?...
I have a couple of different comments on this one...
(1) Gwen is absolutely right. Your conversation is what distracts you from driving, not holding an object to your ear. On that same line, RoBert is also right... eating, applying makeup, and reading (texts) are also all very distracting. Personally, I think the law should be for texting. Texting while driving is super dangerous since your looking away from the road and using 1 maybe 2 hands to text. I don't know too many people who can text and watch the road.
(2) On the news this morning (Ch 5), they were reporting that when you include court/processing fees, the fines come out to $79 for your 1st offense and $190 for following offenses. Geesh! This is serious business!
(3) I, too, am a law-abiding citizen and I made a small, affordable purchase at Costco just about a week ago. For $40 (much less than your first offense) I purchased a small hands free device manufactured by VR3. It works like a speaker box. Its about the size of a large 4 x 6 index card and relatively thin. All you have to do is turn it on and clip it to your visor. I've never heard of VR3, but its easy to use, small, and--from what I'm told-- very clear. You can charge it up in car and it comes with an ear bud for private conversations. All in all, it seems to be working pretty well.