Get a load of these new TRAFFIC LAWS in California! (Includes not smoking in your car with kids)

[Elspeth]

Courtesy of http://www.freepizzatrafficschool.com/


IMPORTANT NEW TRAFFIC LAWS FOR 2008...AND BEYOND!

PHREEWAY PHONING (California Vehicle Code Section 23123)

We know you love your mobile phone. You call your friends, family, and business associates from everywhere: at the store, at the beach, in the shower. Okay...maybe not the shower? Well, starting on July 1, 2008, if you talk on your phone while you're driving, you'll need to use a hands-free listening and speaking system. Drivers cited will be subject to a fine of $20 (at least $70 with fees and penalties) for a first offense and $50 (at least $175 with fees and penalties) for subsequent offenses. Push to talk (PTT) systems, such as those from Nextel, will be exempt from the hands-free edict until July 1, 2011.

TEEN MOBILE PHONE USE (California Vehicle Code Section 23124)

Who loves their mobile phones even more than adults? Teens!!! Yet, teen drivers are faced with an even more restrictive mobile phone law. Effective July 1, 2008, drivers under the age of 18 are prohibited from using any mobile messaging device (including wireless phones, pagers, texting devices, laptops, etc.) — even if it is equipped with a hands-free device. Drivers cited will be subject to a fine of $20 (at least $70 with fees and penalties) for a first offense and $50 (at least $175 with fees and penalties) for subsequent offenses.

For a video clip from CNN on dangerous driving behaviors, click here.

WHAT A DRAG! (California Vehicle Code Section 23109.2)

Street racing can be a gas, but injuring or killing someone during the course of a race is a real drag. Effective January 1, 2008, this statute allows law enforcement officers to impound a vehicle for 30 days when a person is arrested for street racing, exhibition of speed, or reckless driving. Vehicles impounded under this law can be claimed by their registered owners if the owner was neither the driver nor a passenger and was unaware that the vehicle was being used in a forbidden manner.

Having your car impounded could be the least of its worries if you engage in a speed contest. To read a news article about street racers being crushed by law enforcement, click here.

NO SMOKING! (California Vehicle Code Section 12814.6)

As an adult, you can choose to suck on that stinky, smelly, choking tar stick. Your underage passengers, however, don't have the luxury of choice. This statute is intended to protect children riding in vehicles from the dangers second-hand smoke. Effective January 1, 2008, the law makes it an infraction — punishable by a fine of up to $100 — to smoke a cigar, cigarette, or pipe in a vehicle containing a minor, whether the vehicle is in motion or not.

DON'T HAZE ME, BRO! (California Vehicle Code Section 5201, 5201.1)

This law makes it illegal to sell or use a product that obscures or impairs the reading or recognition of a vehicle license plate by an electronic device employed by law enforcement or toll authorities. The fine for using a product to obscure a vehicle license plate is approximately $146; the fine for selling such a product is $250 (approximately $900 with fees and penalties) per item sold.

SLOW FOR SCHOOLS! (California Vehicle Code Section 22358.4)

Release your driving aggression with Grand Theft Auto. When it comes to school zones...SLOW DOWN! This amendment to the vehicle code allows local jurisdictions to establish a speed zone of 15 mph up to 500 feet around schools, if a local ordinance is adopted to authorize it. (This is a decrease from the prima facie speed limit of 25 mph in school zones.)

TRAFFIC SCHOOL LIMITATIONS (Penal Code Section 1203.4; California Vehicle Code Sections 40501, 41501, and 42005)

This statute prohibits the courts from dismissing two-point violations through the completion of a traffic violator school or safe driving program. Two-point violations include drunk driving, hit-and-run collisions, speed contests, evading a law enforcement officer, and vehicular manslaughter. While we think drivers who commit a two-point violation could benefit from one of our traffic safety courses, we do agree that those drivers' records should reflect their extreme driving habits.

[Fearless]

1. Good.

[Diane R]

2. Those all sound really good to me. Especially the 'no smoking' when kids are in the car law.

I have severe asthma, and grew up riding in a car with a father who smoked four packs of cigarettes a day. Being exposed to that level of smoke was a form of abuse.

[Warpy]

5. My parents smoked like a couple of choo choo trains

and I would have loved it if they'd been prevented from doing it in the car.

I have severe asthma now and my main trigger is cig smoke. Big surprise, huh?

[Lorien]

8. Same deal here

I would have loved it if that law had been in place in the 70s.

[L. Coyote]

23. You got off lucky. I know someone who gave his dog lung cancer. Killed it dead!!

[Midlodemocrat]

3. Sounds good to me. Especially the part about no smoking in cars with kids.

[madinmaryland]

4. Sounds like mostly common sense laws.

PHREEWAY PHONING (California Vehicle Code Section 23123) - Absolutely yes

TEEN MOBILE PHONE USE (California Vehicle Code Section 23124) - Absolutely yes

WHAT A DRAG! (California Vehicle Code Section 23109.2) - Good Idea. We had a few people die recently in MD as a direct result of illegal drag racing.

NO SMOKING! (California Vehicle Code Section 12814.6) - Yes. Think of the children, before lighting up!!

DON'T HAZE ME, BRO! (California Vehicle Code Section 5201, 5201.1) - Good.

SLOW FOR SCHOOLS! (California Vehicle Code Section 22358.4) - Good.

[Iggo]

6. Mostly great.

I'm always leery of impound laws. The potential for abuse is high. But I'm all for the rest of 'em.

[meegbear]

7. And your point caller?

[Mythsaje]

9. Nice to know that California has solved the problem of REAL crime

and can now spare the resources to chase smokers down the motorway. How many speeders and drunk drivers are going to cruise on by the folks that have been pulled over for smoking?

From what I understand the cops in Washington State told the lawmakers that they wouldn't bother to enforce such a law here. :shrug: Guess the cops in California have more time on their hands.

[Elspeth]

14. You know what's funny is that in LA there have recently been freeway shootings

But not sure of those shooters were smoking in the car or using their cell phones. :evilgrin:

[deadmessengers]

10. The only one of these I have a problem with is...

The drag racing one. Not with the spirit of the law, but because of it's eventual application. What I see here is revenue-hungry police departments seizing every car they pull over for speeding, calling it an "exhibition of speed". And how exactly would one prove that they were unaware that their vehcle was being used in a forbidden manner? I'm sure the burden of proof would be on the individual trying to get their property back, and not on the prosecution. This just reeks of a money grab to me.

Other than that though, I think these are a great idea!

[Elspeth]

12. I was actually concerned about the definition of drag racing myself

Seems a little subjective. Teenage male drivers will probably be at risk.

[LanternWaste]

11. No drag racing? Is it FASCISM yet?

No drag racing??!! Is it FASCISM yet??!! :sarcasm:

Couldn't help myself...

:hide:

[Gormy Cuss]

13. Next up in CA, outlawing driving with a pet on your lap.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/05/05/national/a163439D20.DTL&hw=dog+driving&sn=002&sc=675


I agree with the other posters who raised concerns about the drag racing statute. It does seem overly broad.

[Mountainman]

15. And outlawing reading and putting on makeup or brushing your hair

while driving.

[Elspeth]

16. When they outlaw drinking coffee while driving, I'm leaving.

:evilgrin:

[NV Whino]

19. Don't forget flossing while driving.

Yep, I saw with my own two eyes.

[Elspeth]

20. No!

Good Lord, just get some breath mints!

[NV Whino]

17. Thanks for posting this

I would have missed it otherwise.

[Elspeth]

18. You're welcome. So would I and, I'll bet, lots of other Californians.

These should be on the local news, though.

[madmusic]

21. Nanner-nanner Nanny State

Done.

Or teens will just have the passenger talk and relay.


"I think it's very important that when you're behind the wheel that you pay full attention to driving and not to dialing or looking away at anything," Schwarzenegger said.



http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-01-10-schwarzenegger-license_x.htm">Police: Schwarzenegger riding motorcycle illegally


http://edition.cnn.com/2007/LIVING/wayoflife/11/20/behind.wheel/index.html">According to the Department of Transportation, distracted driving is responsible for 4,000 to 8,000 accidents per day in the United States.
AOL AUTO POLL
15 percent - Talking on a handheld cell phone
70 percent- Talking on a hands-free cell phone
60 percent - Eating
5 percent - Grooming
90 percent - Speeding
50 percent - Driving sleepy (increases crash or near-crash risk
by 4 to 6 times according to Virginia Tech study
3 percent - DUI
21 percent - Managing children
5 percent - Reading
13 percent - Manipulating a GPS device/line-in MP3 player
Number of people surveyed: 1013 Source: AOL Autos

[onethatcares]

22. "wheelies" here in Floriduh will cost $1000.00 for the first offense

$2500 for the second, and a whole lot more including 10 year licence suspension for the 3d. But going over 15mph in a school zone is only $250.00 and 4 pts.

[AlCzervik]

24. fine by me and as far as street racing goes we've seen plenty of accidents up here

but it's not always actual racing, many times it's been some asswipe in his souped up civic driving like a dick, unfortunately they usually kill other motorists.

[Elspeth]

25. Yeah, I can see the need to get those street racers off the road

What worries me is that a heavy handed cop could write up a teenage speeder who is giving him lip.

[-..__...]

26. Geee... how can we generate more revenue....

for financially strapped state and municipal budgets? :eyes:

[Elspeth]

27. Ahh, that's the reason....

..

[kineneb]

28. most are responses to existing problems

which common sense would normally have dictated...but common sense seems to be short supply recently, so laws are made instead...

driving and talking on cell phone while holding it is dangerous and stupid (could wind you up in the lake here, how well does your car swim?)

[El Pinko]

29. Yep - most of them seem pretty sensible to me.

I've always thought that confining a kid with you in a car while you smoke is a form of child abuse/neglect. It's been proven that second-hand smoke is harmful, especially to kids. People have the right to kill themselves with it, but not to stunt their kids' growth and damage their lungs with their nasty habits.