http://handsfreeinfo.com Just another WordPress weblog Fri, 12 Mar 2010 21:26:28 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en One of 2010's fiercest legislative battles over distracted driving raged in Washington -- a state that already has banned handheld cell phone use and texting by drivers. On Thursday night, the civil war ended as the House agreed with the Senate that the state's bans on text messaging and handheld cell ... http://handsfreeinfo.com/washington_texting_enforcement Strangest beginning to a news story we've seen in a while: "PHOENIX -- Arizona drivers' right to compose and send text messages from behind the wheel of a moving vehicle has successfully been defended." This from a report on the defeat of a distracted driving bill, written by Howard Fischer Capitol Media ... http://handsfreeinfo.com/your-texting-driving-rights-defended-by-patriots New York Gov. David Paterson wants to "take the handcuffs off" when it comes to texting and driving. He's proposed legislation in the Senate that would upgrade enforcement of the state's 2008 texting law from "secondary" to "primary." That means law officers can stop and cite text-messaging drivers for that reason ... http://handsfreeinfo.com/n-y-governor-toughen-texting-law Seeking "a more significant deterrent," California State Sen. Joe Simitian has filed legislation that would more than double fines on the trio of distracted driving laws that he created in recent years. Simitian defended the laws' effectiveness last week -- reacting to a widely publicized study that shows cell phone bans ... http://handsfreeinfo.com/simitian-hike-calif-distracted-driving-fines California state Sen. Joe Simitian has heard enough about cell phone bans not working. Simitian came out in defense of his ban on drivers' use of handheld cell phones, armed with California Highway Patrol data. "A lot of folks are sitting down to dinner with their families every day, who ... http://handsfreeinfo.com/simitian-defends-california-cell-phone-ban Bans on handheld phones do work, and they work best in urban areas, according to a new study of traffic fatalities and injuries. A University of Illinois team looked at New York state in the years before and after its 2001 ban on handheld cell phones. All 62 counties in ... http://handsfreeinfo.com/urban-bans-cellphone The state of Washington already said no to text messaging while driving. Now it's shouting. The state Senate voted Feb. 5 to toughen Washington's law against texting and the use of handheld cell phones by targeting violators with primary (full) enforcement. Update: The House agreed with most of the bill, but rejected ... http://handsfreeinfo.com/washington-state-votes-to-toughen-texting-law Last week, State Rep. Keith Hall of Kentucky turned thumbs down on a plan to ban text messaging while driving. He voted against HB 43 in the House Transportation Committee. The measure succeeded, though, and went before the full House on Feb. 4. This time, Hall voted yes with the ... http://handsfreeinfo.com/after-a-crash-and-epiphany-ky-rep-votes-yes Props to Gov. M. Jodi Rell for her plan to toughen Connecticut's existing ban on driving and talking on handheld cell phones. She's pushing for a text messaging ban, too. No doubt Rell is one of the good guys on this issue. But, get a load of the unfortunate wording in ... http://handsfreeinfo.com/governor-texting-cell-phone Bans on handheld cell phone use by drivers aren't cutting into accident rates, according to a study by insurance industry researchers. "This finding doesn't auger well for any safety payoff from all the new laws that ban phone use and texting while driving," the leader of the Highway Loss Data Institute ... http://handsfreeinfo.com/study-handheld-cell-bans-have-no-effect