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As any regular reader of this column will tell you, my opinion of drivers in the San Gabriel Valley is extremely low. It has been a while since I have ventured into the driving arena because I felt that I had beaten that horse to death. It couldn’t possibly get any worse and the State was not taking any action to help rectify the situation.
I was wrong on both counts. The roads have become even worse and the State actually took a baby step towards eliminating one of the problems that has long attributed to the mess we all experience when we are behind the wheel. It might have an effect, but unfortunately we will have to wait and see.
You see, a couple of months ago, a law was passed that will make it illegal to use a hand held cell phone while driving your car in California. I don’t have to tell anybody who drives around here that this is a major problem. We have all been the victims of one of these people who think that multi-tasking behind the wheel is acceptable.
Unfortunately, like I said, we are going to have a while to wait. The law that was passed is not going to take effect until July 1, 2008. If ever there was a law that should be implemented immediately it is this one. Every second that goes by that it is not being enforced is a second that drivers, especially in this area, are in jeopardy of getting in an accident.
I don’t know why this law got a special extension. Maybe the lawmakers felt that the frail California psyche could not handle an immediate withdrawal from something that we all have become so addicted to. If you don’t think that cell phones have become an addiction just look around you.
As the addiction has built even unwilling participants, such as myself, have been sucked into its clutches. I hate talking on the phone at any time. I view it more of a chore than a pleasure, but even more so when I am behind the wheel. I am apparently in the minority on this based on the numbers of people who can’t stop talking long enough to drive from point A to point B.
We have created this beast and continue to nurture it because of our desire to protect our children. Over the last few years, as the number of child abductions and attacks has risen, we have looked to the cell phone as a tracking device to keep tabs on our children. They, in turn, have become so addicted to the cell phone that almost instinctively the moment that their time is free they jump on the phone.
Add to this the monkey see-monkey do mindset of watching their parents talk non stop while driving and you have the makings of the next generation of drivers who accept talking on the phone while driving as a given. So it is time, more than time, to break this cycle and retrain our young. Breaking the cycle of their parents is going to be a much tougher challenge. They being the first generation of phone addicts, the first ones to get this toy, and develop a “need” for it.
You would think a strong message would need to be sent in order to drive the point home that the lawmakers were serious about this new law.
Sadly, along with the aforementioned wait, they missed the mark as far as putting any teeth into the fines. For your first offense the fine is $20.00, the price of a newly released DVD. For the second offense it rises to the staggering amount of $50.00.
Yeah, that’s going to put the fear of god into those who violate the law. It’s also going to motivate law enforcement officials to write citations for it as well. If you think I am wrong just take a look at what happened with the seatbelt law.
When the seatbelt law was passed it carried the same miniscule fines, and citations were few and far between. After 8 years they were raised to $89.00 for the first offense and $191.00 for the second. After that happened all of a sudden we started hearing about the CHP cracking down on people not wearing seatbelts. It may have been a coincidence, but money always seems to be the great motivator.
The campaign started with bumper stickers on all of the police cruisers, then television ads with the catch phrase “click it or ticket” and of course this was followed by the escalation of citations being given out. I wonder how many lives could have been spared had they shown the same resolve from the beginning?
If the same recipe is followed as far as driving while using hand held cell phones is concerned, not only will we have to wait until July 2008 for the law to take effect, we will have to wait an additional 8 years before it grows some serious fangs. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to wait until 2016 before the driving public gets the message. Because at $20.00 to $50.00 they won’t.
Hopefully the powers that be will be able to speed up the process and see the difference between the two. While seatbelts are designed for your personal safety, people with one hand on the wheel are a threat to everyone else on the road. If you use that same philosophy, protecting the innocent instead of yourself, the fines for cell phone use should mirror those for not properly restraining a child in a car seat, $371.00 for the first offense and $871.00 for the second.
Personally, I don’t think cell phones, hand held or hands free, should be used by anyone driving a car. Any distraction while you are behind the wheel is a potential danger. Hell, I don’t even like anyone talking to me while I’m driving because it breaks my concentration.
I am not holding my breath for any type of speedy change in a policy that hasn’t even taken effect yet. Not when the basic rules of the road are broken by the majority of the people driving and are not enforced enough to curtail their violations.
The driving here in the San Gabriel Valley has become a free for all with people doing whatever they want behind the wheel. They think of no one but themselves and everyone else be damned. It grows worse every day with no change in sight. With the way things are going driving through the SGV will be as devoid of driving laws and as dangerous as driving through a third world country. If you don’t think that prospect is scary check out some of the travelogues on PBS or the Travel Channel.
Turn indicators not being used, not making full stops at stop signs, and not pulling to the right when an emergency vehicle is approaching are but a few, and the norm. The turn indicators may be directly connected to the cell phone. If you are only using one hand to drive how are you supposed to turn on your signal? Not pulling to the right for an emergency vehicle may be too. It could be that people can’t hear the sirens over the phone. The not stopping at stop signs is, well, just ignorant and rude.
We won’t know for sure if they are related until, I guess, 2016 or until the AAA does their next survey after it becomes law. That will probably be around 2012 if I’m guessing right, but I could be wrong.
Until then the scariest Halloween costume you can have for the next few years would be holding a cell phone to your ear with one hand and a steering wheel in the other.
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