New Jersey cops crack down on chatty drivers

We all know about those pesky cell-phone laws states are putting out to scare drivers into using hands-free devices while behind the wheel. If you live in New Jersey, you better start taking those laws seriously unless you want to pay a hefty fine.

Philly.com is reporting that law enforcement officers in New Jersey will be able to fine drivers for talking or texting on their cell phone while driving. New Jersey adopted its hands-free law in July 2004 as a secondary offense, which meant the police couldn't pull you over for talking on the phone alone. But starting this Saturday, March 1, the law becomes a primary offense, and chatty drivers will be subjected to huge fines for not using a hands-free device.

These fines will range from $100-$250, although the state's Division of Highway Traffic Safety says no points will be assessed.

Guess it's time you start looking at inexpensive headsets folks. If you need a headset, and would like to get one free (and who doesn't), check out FreeHeadsets.org.

This organization has been promoting safe driving since 2003 by distributing free cell phone headsets. All you have to do is pay the shipping charge, which is about $4. I wrote about these guys last year, so you can get more information about FreeHeadsets.org here.

I'd love to hear what you think about this new law.