Texting and Driving

Enforcement of the hands-free cellphone (while driving) law in California took effect this past July. Yay. However, the folks who pushed through this bill a year-and-a-half earlier left a loophole wide open which did not place restrictions on text messaging while driving. I have heard that this was intentionally done to ensure that the bill would pass... that it did, and now our governor has signed a bill to close said loophole. I mean, texting while maneuvering a 3,500 pound mass of rolling steel (glass, rubber, plastic and other bits) at speed, in the middle of traffic?

I have said this before about the cellphone law, and I'll say it again about the texting law: how effectively will this be enforced? I've witnessed many who still blatantly have their cellphones pressed to their ears, and no doubt texting will also continue (after January 1, 2009 when the law takes effect). The side effect to introducing new laws is that it increases the number of scofflaws.

I suppose I'm picking my battles here (living in a glass house), but as a motorcyclist who has to share the road with larger vehicles, I would like that those drivers focus their attentions on driving and not these petty distractions.