California Set to Ban Dialing While Driving

Somehow, despite the fact that I live in California and write about technology every day, I have missed the fact that our legislature is set to ban talking on cell phones while operating an automobile... by Friday of this week.

I'd known that California was "considering" such a ban, but I'd long thought that Southern California types, who have cell phones surgically attached to their palms at birth, would have complained so loudly that this would have completely stalled. Most people (myself included) have long felt that anti-cell laws would be enacted "anywhere but in California."

But sometimes the government surprises you: The bill is expected to be signed by Arnold Schwarzenegger by the end of the week.

Naturally, there's more than meets the eye here: The move is widely considered to be a political play by the embattered Governator, who's seeking re-election soon. Even those who support the bill (like me) can't be thrilled with its toothless punishments: A $20 fine for the first infraction; $50 thereafter. That'll teach 'em, right? The law would also not go into effect until January 1, 2008 and would expire on July 1, 2011, unless renewed. Hands-free phones are still allowed.

Many bloviators have come out of the closet in recent days to complain about the law, exclaiming that hands-free phones are just as dangerous as hand-held ones (a disputed notion), and that other distractions—makeup applications, screaming kids, radio fiddling—are just as problematic. That may be true, but unfortunately there's little that can be done about some of these scapegoats. Outlaw children? Outlaw lipstick? Well, we probably ought to do the latter, but that troublesome cell phone has truly become epidemic. Today they're responsible for an estimated 5 percent of all accidents. (Though the #1 cause is so much more annoying: rubbernecking.)

So are cell phones a scapegoat for bad driving? Maybe so, but what a valid scapegoat they are. The new law is weak, it doesn't address all the problems with bad driving, and it will never be enforced, but I think it's a fair first step that we badly need. If nothing else, now we can feel legitimate and in the legal right when we yell at people on their cell phones to "shut up and drive." Citizen's arrest, anyone?

Your comments and responses are welcome below.