A new law has been signed by governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in the state of California which will ban teenage drivers from using mobile phones and other mobile devices while driving. The ban goes into effect on July 1, 2008 and will apply a fine to teens using cell phones, pagers and laptop or handheld computers while behind the wheel.

July 1 is the same date a similar law goes into effect for all drivers in California requiring the use of hands-free devices for talking on the phone while driving, but isn’t quite as strict as the new bill signed for teens last week.

“The simple fact is that teenage drivers are more easily distracted,” said Schwarzenegger. “They are young, inexperienced, and have a slower reaction time. We want to eliminate any extra distractions so they can focus on paying attention to the road and being good drivers.”

The fine for using a mobile devices while driving will be a staggering $20 for the first incident and $50 for each subsequent violation. According to the state of California Highway Patrol (or “CHiPs” as we like to call it), car crashes account for 44% of deaths in individuals from 16 to 20 years old, and teenagers are responsible for 13.6% of fatal crashes in the nation while only representing 6.3% of the driving population.

The fines for this don’t seem like much of a deterrent for drivers especially since you can’t even be pulled over for the offense, but even though not all studies agree that accidents can be attributed more often to using a mobile phone while driving we have to agree that the hands free requirement isn’t a bad one. This is mostly just because we think Bluetooth hands free gadgets are cool.

Source:
Working Dude at Yahoo Tech