This is an interactive blog provided by the Woodland Police Department. The blog is aimed at educating the public about laws associated to driving, driver education, and pedestrian safety.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Cell Phones and Provisional Licenses

Last week I attended the California Office of Traffic Safety conference in San Francisco. This year the theme was “Toward zero deaths, everyone counts”. While at the conference I had the option of attending multiple study sessions about various traffic safety related topics. The area I focused my time on was young driver education, which impacts everyone. One group I met while at the conference was Impact Teen Drivers, who provide educational information to young drivers and parents free of charge. You can view their website at impactteendrivers.org. Some of the information in this article was provided by Impact Teen Drivers.

Traffic collisions are the leading cause of death for teens between the ages of 16 and 19. In 2005, 4,829 teens were killed in traffic collisions. Some of the challenges facing young drivers are inexperience and distracted driving. Distractions include talking on a cell phone, changing the radio station, and something as simple as having a passenger can be a distraction.

Talking on a cell phone and not having any passengers in a vehicle while driving increases your chances of being in a collision by 400% and reaching for an object increases your risk by 900%. The percentages only go higher as you include passengers in your vehicle. Certain activities like reaching for an object while trying to send a text message increase your chances of being in a collision by as much as 1500%.- impactteendriving.org, 4-14-2009. Certain laws in the California Vehicle Code aim to limit distracted driving, laws like the restricted use of a cell phones and text messaging, but the responsibility of limiting distractions rests on the driver.

Due to the magnitude of the risks involved with driving laws have been passed to safeguard everyone. The laws pertaining to talking on cell phones while driving, California Vehicle Code Sections 23123(a) and 23124(a), restrict how and when a cell phone can be used. The specific sections are lengthy so I will give a summarized definition of each law.
For adults (18 and older), section 23123(a) allows drivers to use a cell phone or wireless communication device when used with a hands free device. One of the areas of confusion is the use of a speaker phone. I routinely see people driving and talking on the phone, holding the phone a foot away from their mouths, and using the speaker functions. This is not an example of hands free use and is a violation of the law. You are not hands free while holding your phone. If you have a phone with a speaker phone and it can be placed on the dash, center console, or other place not in your hand it would be legal.

For minors(17 and under), section 23124(a) restricts all use of any type of cellular phone or wireless communication device with or without a hands free device.

The exception for an adult or minor to hold the phone to their ear while driving is to place an emergency call to a law enforcement agency, health care provider, fire department, or other emergency entity.

The new text messaging law, Vehicle Code Section 23123(b), effective January 1, 2009, makes it unlawful to write, send, or read text messages. This law also includes e-mail.

There are several classifications of people and drivers that are exempt from the cell phone laws but it applies to most drivers. To see the complete list of exemptions you can see them at dmv.ca.gov. Another important item for new drivers to understand is what a provisional license does and does not allow. A drivers license is considered provisional until age 18. During the first 12 months of driving, a person with a provisional drivers license may not drive between the hours of 11 PM and 5 AM or transport passengers under the age of 20 unless with and supervised by a licensed parent, guardian, licensed driver over 25, or licensed driving instructor. There are exemptions for transporting a sibling to school or for a medical necessity but there has to be a reason as to why no other transportation was available. Please refer to Vehicle Code Section 12814.6 for complete list of exemptions and responsibilities of provisional drivers.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article and you are welcome to visit the Woodland Police Department Traffic Division blog, thetrafficstop.blogspot.com, where you can post comments or ask questions.




1 comment:

  1. Add to that eating and puting on makeup. When you are driving...drive.

    ReplyDelete