Electronics Ban for California Teen Drivers
Tue Sep 4, 2007 9:42PM EDT
See Comments (3)
A number of studies agree: teen drivers and cellphones don't mix. For example, the Ford Motor Co. found teen drivers on cell phones are four times more distracted than adult drivers. A 2001 report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says those under 18 have a higher crash rate than drivers over 30. And a recent survey conducted by Seventeen Magazine and the American Automobile Assn. found 61 percent of teens admitted to risky driving habits that included sending text messages and talking on their cellphones while driving.
All the latest statistics and studies have prompted the introduction of a bill that would completely prohibit personal technology from being used by teen drivers when behind the wheel. According to the LA Times, California's State Assembly passed bill SB 33 on a 62-5 vote. Should this bill be signed into a law, teenagers under 18 will not be allowed to use PDAs, cellphones, pagers, laptops, or even hands-free devices while driving. Violators will be fined $20 for the first offense, and $50 for subsequent offenses, although no violations will be posted on their driving record.
There's obviously a good number of people who support the bill, and for good reasons, but those who oppose it feel "parents should have the responsibility, not the state." Last year, Gov. Schwarzenegger signed a bill that would require all drivers to use hands-free devices by July 1, 2008, that is, unless you're under 18 when/if this bill is passed.
What do you think? Is this fair? Should teens be the only group banned from using personal technology while driving?
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Comments on Electronics Ban for California Teen Drivers
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2 Posted by cveggers@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:32PM EDT Report Abuse
They should pass the law in all States that all electronic devices while driving is prohibited for everyone!!!!! We never had these things before and our lives were fine. I have been in many driving situations when a driver is on the phone and could have been in a accident because they ran right through a stop sign. Thank God I was not on a phone and was doing my job called driving or I could have been dead or hurt badly! People need to think twice before talking on that phone or using other devices. Is it worth it? I could cause an accident, kill or injure someone and also myself. People have delayed reactions when they are on the phone and driving it is a major distraction!! I see it every day why cant our goverment, car insurance companys and police see this?????? When people's lives are at stake there is no question about it, it should be banned!! Talk on your phone when you are not operating a vehicle that is a very powerful machine and could cause death or serious injury because of you! Please make this a law just like wearing seatbelts to SAVE LIVES!!!!! I value my life and others do you??? ceggers
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3 Posted by myrnacopeland on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:31PM EDT Report Abuse
Why not just disign cars to block all outgoing signals while the engine is running; then no one would be destracted while driving. hummmm.
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1 Posted by frank.van@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:02PM EDT Report Abuse
Driving requires your full attention. There's no such thing as "multi-tasking" while driving. Road conditions change every nano-second and one second of a lapse in concentration can kill some one. People have become too comfortable in their "rolling living rooms". As a motorcycle rider I can tell you that it takes my full concentration to keep clear of all those people out there eating, putting on make-up, reading the sports page, (YES I've seen this),or talking on the phone while driving. Wake up people. That 3000 pound living room couch you're driving is a bomb waiting to explode because you didn't stay alert.