Cellphone Law

I still see it all around me. It has been almost a year since CA began enforcing a law restricting handheld cellular phone usage while driving. The "texting" loophole was later closed. So how the hell is a cop to enforce this law? My guess is that they don't. Just today I witnessed a young gal glancing down at her lap repeatedly while at a stoplight. Another, older woman, was blatantly yakking away with the phone up against her left ear, the one facing out the window for the world to see (but perhaps invisible to law enforcement). I had to pass a vehicle yesterday that was going questionably slow, only to find a woman carrying on an animated conversation on her phone. Sure, people will hedge their bets against getting caught... no different than breaking other traffic laws I suppose, but this one's harder to detect and probably why they do it.

I am no fan of phones, which leaves me with a feeling of being left out on (figuratively) giving a finger to the Man. I now make up for that by proceeding through red lights when clear, perform rolling stops, speeding, and sex when I can get it.

Brady v Interior Dept

"We should not be making it easier for dangerous people to carry concealed firearms in our parks."

The Brady Campaign is suing the Bush Administration over a new policy which allows carrying concealed weapons in national parks and refuges for those who are otherwise permitted to do so. This means for anyone who has a valid Concealed Carry Weapon (CCW) permit. That quote is presumptuous implying that gun owners are dangerous, and that the truly dangerous have been abiding the law all along. Wake up people! Criminals and scofflaws have always illegally toted their guns while visiting these parks; the policy's admission or defeat won't make a damn bit of difference.

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.

Parking Ticket

I fought the law and I won!

That's actually the title of a song by an old punk rock group, the Dead Kennedys. I just received a letter in the mail informing me that a parking ticket I had incurred about two months ago had been dismissed. It wasn't my first challenge to a traffic citation.

Years ago I had a court date challenging a CHP officer's claim that I was driving my car while wearing headphones (in CA, headphones can only cover one ear, not both). It was 11:00p at night, the convertible top of my Alfa Romeo was up, meaning the 8-yr old plastic rear windshield was not the clearest thing to look through, and black 'phones on black hair did not provide much detail. The case was dismissed, the clincher being my cross-examination of the officer asking whether he was able to see both my ears. As it was, in a brightly lit courtroom, noone was able to see either ear since they were draped by my long hair. He admitted the conditions did not allow him to accurately discern any detail to conclude that either ear was covered.

Two years later, a Sacramento Police officer cited me likewise, but the case was dismissed when the officer failed to appear, notifying in advance that he was unable to recall much of the details of the incident.

And now this $35 parking citation. This is a motorcycle parking area delineated by corner brackets painted in the asphalt and fits around 4 to 6 bikes. There is a 2-1/2 section of curb on one end that had once been painted red and quite faded by age; it was within the corner bracket marked in the road. Ambiguous to say the least.

Well, I'm glad the verdict came in and I can now rest easy. It wasn't the $35, but just a matter of principle.

Text, Not Voice

A law passed in January 2006 will take effect on July 1, 2008, prohibiting people from talking on handheld cellular phones while driving in California. The solution is to use the cellphone's speakerphone feature (if available), or a hands-free headset (wired or wireless). Oh yes, another option being to abstain from using the phone altogether.

However, the law does not preclude anyone from using the cellphone to send and receive text messages. Hmm. The lawmakers want to make sure your lips and ears are not preoccupied, but will allow your eyes to be diverted from the road? Thumbs too? Last I checked, the thumbs were part of the hand, as in "hands-free". Yeah, makes a lot of sense.

Look Ma, No Hands!

It still irks me to sit in traffic and witness the large number of drivers who have cellphones pressed against their heads. It leaves only one hand free for controlling the vehicle. "So what?" you say? "Same can be said when holding that burger, or applying the mascara, or lipstick, or while shaving". But you see, those activities are no-brainers and not distracting like engaging in a telephone conversation.

What about distractions by conversing with passengers in the car then? Well, you got me there. At least the front seat passenger can potentially aid in traffic awareness; just find some way to audibly suppress and segregate the back seats. Or ride solo, like I usually do.

Introducing law that requires hands-free cellphones is a step in the right direction (effective in July here in Cali), but I've said this before and I'll say it again: how the hell are the authorities going to widely enforce this law?

Ineffectively, is my guess.

On the Books

I'm talking about new laws in effect, or about to become law.

We're in the middle of several storm systems (today being a brief lull... more rain to come this evening). While driving home from work on a couple of occasions, I noticed that not all the cars on the road have their headlights turned on. This is relevant because California law stipulates that this is required if you are using your windshield wipers. I may have been guilty on occasion, only because my headlights turn on automatically depending on the ambient light conditions (if the sensors determine that it is dark enough).

Of course, the alternative is to not bother using the wipers while your headlight remains turned off. I don't believe it is law requiring the use of wipers when it's raining cats and dogs.

Since this seems to be the type of frivolous law that would be difficult at best to enforce, I wonder how law enforcement personnel are to handle the many potential abusers when the hands-free cellphone law goes into effect this July? I am all for any means to get people's attentions back to driving rather than occupying themselves with distractions. I'd like to see data collected that may determine cellphone usage as possibly contributing to accidents, and slap on stiffer penalties for the indiscretion.

Another law on the books here in California makes it illegal to toss burning objects from a moving vehicle. The verbiage is probably a euphemistic attempt to acquiesce those yoyos who insist on tossing their cigarette butts out the window. Cops seem to be exempt... and could be why this law is (IMHO) rarely enforced, if at all.

There should be a law that outlaws laws that are either nonsensical or difficult to enforce.