QotD: Drivin' & Talkin'

Should driving while talking on a cell phone be outlawed? 
Submitted by Soup.  

Personally, I do this all the time. But I also am wearing a earpiece and have both hands on the wheel. My phone is set to auto-answer when the headset is plugged in. Since I basically drive for a living, I am more concious of safety than the average idiot I see holding the cell in one hand yacking. I think it would be better just to take the driving licence away from those people and leave the people who do it right alone. California will be requiring hands-free operation or get fined starting in July 2008. I'm ahead of them by at least 4 years.

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5 responses
Washington has a similar law on the books, slated for July 2008 enforcement. However, it's a secondary offense, so they can't pull you over just for doing that. You have to actually be doing something stupid while yakking.
Haven't heard much details about it here except through all the spof emails that were going around about it. The money grubbers here likely will make it a misdemenor or something just like the seatbelt law.
Back when I was young they would stop you for a tail light being out and then do a full safety check to see what ese they could find. We called them a fix-it ticket. Basically you had to get it repaired and then any cop could sign it off. If you complied within so many days they dropped the case...otherwise you got fined.
From here: http://hr.blr.com/news.aspx?id=19173Effective
July 1, 2008, the legislation prohibits drivers from using a wireless
telephone while operating a motor vehicle unless the driver uses a
hands-free device. Drivers who violate the law will face a base fine of
$20 for a first offense and $50 for each subsequent offense.
The law allows drivers to use a wireless telephone for emergency
purposes, drivers of commercial vehicles to use push-to-talk phones
until July 1, 2011, and allow drivers of emergency response vehicles to
use a cell phone without a hands-free device.Looks an awful lot like a misdemeanor to me. The fine in WA state is $101 on top of whatever it is they pulled you over for doing while yakking on your phone.
This is California...they are just testing the waters...that fine will double in no time. I think that is why construction is never totally completed anywhere...to create double fine zones.
I don't disagree with this. ;)