Your Ad Here

Monday, March 02, 2009

Without Bluetooth There May be a Ticket in Your Future

By Matt Parker

More and more states are recognizing the dangers of using cell phones while driving. Remember the 10 o'clock - 2 o'clock hand positions while driving? If you are caught not following this because of cell phone use you can be busted either by a policeman or worse, meet an accident.

The outlines of the cell phone driving laws are as follows:

Complete Hand Held Bans for All Drivers - Not all states are at a complete cell phone ban. Currently, the states participating in this are California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and Washington. The District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands are also for this Law. This means that any driver caught using a handheld phone while driving can be given a ticket. Using a handheld phone by itself is a traffic offense.

Novice Ban - In some states, a driver in probationary status is banned from using hand held phones. The guidelines may differ from state to state. Some would consider drivers under 18, 19 or 21 as novice drivers. Also, people with learners permit, provisional license, first 6 - 12 months of driving, or have a history of getting a ticket or traffic crash are banned from using hand held phones. These states are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, DC, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.

School Bus Drivers Ban - When driving a school bus with kids on board law or no law, the drivers should be focusing on the road rather than talking on the phone. Luckily 17 states agree with me like Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, DC, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

Text Messaging Bans - Participated by Alaska, California, Connecticut, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Jersey, Washington and the District of Columbia.

Texting Ban for Novice drivers - Alaska, California, Connecticut, Delaware, DC, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia.

Texting Ban for School Bus Drivers - Arkansas, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia prohibit bus drivers carrying passengers from texting.

This is the summarized version of the handheld phone law. But before you even think about grabbing your phone while driving, law or no law, look at the facts. A lot of accidents and crashes can be traced to distraction. And guess what the number one distraction is.

Using Bluetooth headsets is the least you can do if you cannot be away from you phone. If you think about the enormity of money being spent for hospital bills due to accidents, repairs or even death, then a couple of bucks for a Bluetooth headset to prevent this sounds real good, right?

No matter how good of a driver you are or you think you are, the facts do not lie. Experts from the Harvard Center or Risk Analysis gleaned that a 20-year-old driver using a handheld phone has the reaction time worse than a 70-year-old. This means 18% slower response to break lights and 17% longer to get his speed up after stopping.

So before you get a ticket or be in an accident, grab a Bluetooth headset. You'll be saving yourself and your family's lives.

About the Author:

0 Comments: