PA House Bill Passed - Cell phone use prohibited in Car - 60 Days

[JaySVX]

No more talking on the cell phones while driving, passed on 9/11/07 takes effect 60 days after.

At first, I thought this ban included hands-free devices such as bluetooth headsets, but now I'm leaning towards it not including hands-free.

PRINTER'S NO. 2428

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE BILL

No. 1827 Session of 2007

INTRODUCED BY SHAPIRO, BRENNAN, BLACKWELL, CALTAGIRONE, CLYMER,

COHEN, DALEY, DeLUCA, FABRIZIO, FREEMAN, GALLOWAY, HARHAI,

HARKINS, HENNESSEY, HORNAMAN, JOSEPHS, KENNEY, KORTZ, KULA,

LEACH, MAHONEY, McILHATTAN, McILVAINE SMITH, MUNDY, MURT,

NAILOR, PASHINSKI, PETRARCA, PETRONE, QUINN, RAMALEY,

READSHAW, REED, SABATINA, SAMUELSON, SIPTROTH, K. SMITH,

STABACK, TANGRETTI, TRUE, WATSON, WOJNAROSKI, YOUNGBLOOD AND

ADOLPH, SEPTEMBER 11, 2007

REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION, SEPTEMBER 11, 2007

AN ACT

1 Amending Title 75 (Vehicles) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated

2 Statutes, prohibiting operators from using handheld mobile

3 telephones.

4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

5 hereby enacts as follows:

6 Section 1. Title 75 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated

7 Statutes is amended by adding a section to read:

8 § 3316. Prohibiting use of handheld mobile telephones.

9 (a) General rule.--Except as provided in subsection (b), no

10 driver shall operate any moving vehicle on a highway of this

11 Commonwealth, which shall include Federal, State and municipal

12 highways, while using a handheld mobile telephone.

13 (b) Exception.--This section shall not apply to law

14 enforcement officers and operators of emergency vehicles when on

15 duty and acting in their official capacities.



1 (c) Defense.--It shall be a defense to a prosecution brought

2 for a violation of this section that the driver had reason to

3 fear for the driver's safety, was reporting a traffic accident

4 or was making a "911" emergency call.

5 (d) Penalty.--A person who violates this section commits a

6 summary offense and shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to pay

7 a fine of $50.

8 (e) Definitions.--As used in this section, the following

9 words and phrases shall have the meanings given to them in this

10 subsection:

11 "Handheld mobile telephone." A mobile telephone other than a

12 hands-free mobile telephone with which a user engages in a call

13 using at least one hand.

14 "Hands-free mobile telephone." A mobile telephone that has

15 an internal feature or function, or that is equipped with an

16 attachment or addition, whether or not permanently part of such

17 mobile telephone, by which a user engages in a call without the

18 use of either hand, whether or not the use of either hand is

19 necessary to activate, deactivate or initiate a function of such

20 telephone.

21 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.

[LarryIII]

Hooray...I can't wait.

I'm sick and tired of inching down the Blue Rioute, 5 nights a week, and wondering if the idiot operating (not driving) the SUV in the next lane is going to veer into my lane and hit SVXY, like he almost did; the last 2 times; because he's/she's yapping on the phone.

How's that for a run on sentence, Randy.

[LetItSnow]

The hard part with this is that so many of the people who yap on their cell for miles on end don't believe that their driving awareness diminishes while they've got the phone in their hand, so the compliance to the law is limited. Those who continue to talk "hands-on" will drop the phone into their laps when they see Officer Friendly, anyway. It's really hard to enforce.

We've had this law in NY for some time, and I still suffer from the same cell phone chatties that were mentioned above, who are lost in their choice of lanes and have no idea where there might be another car on the road within miles of theirs.

YOU ARE NOT BATMAN. IT CAN WAIT. GET OFF THE PHONE.

The law is a great idea, and it'll have an effect for a little while, but just like DWI (impaired = impaired) it's mostly after damage has been done that it comes into play at a legal level.

[SUBBYRU89]

Thank goodness! I can't count how many times someone on their cellphone has almost clipped me. Now to catch them doing it, because we all know it takes a second to say "hold on" and place that bugger in your lap as you pass the police. More things that fry me are those chics who can't wake up early enough and have to finish "putting on their face" for work. I had some girl almost rear end me because she was applying mascara and not paying attention to brake lights...hense she got an eyeball full of that crap <evil snicker..good for ya stupid!> and the people in too much of a hurry and not having courtesy for the bikers on the road. I know some bikers could be clowns, but alot of them are not. Share the road I say. When I get a bike people better watch out because if I get hurt by some idiot someones going to pay.

[Manarius]

House passed it - not the senate. It won't be taking effect anytime soon. Living in PA, I would know about it if it had gone to the governor's desk.

[Landshark]

[Hocrest]

I think they'd be MUCH better off enforcing the laws that are already there to penalize the bad drivers on or off of cell phones.

A bad driver on a cell phone is most likely a bad driver without a cell phone, it's just harder for the cops to spot stupidity if they're not holding a phone to their ear.

This is a big mistake and there will be townships who use this as a revenue generator.

[Landshark]

Originally Posted by Hocrest

This is a big mistake and there will be townships who use this as a revenue generator.

its fine with me - i don't talk on my cell phone while i'm driving so i have nothing to worry about.

[mohrds]

Originally Posted by Landshark

its fine with me - i don't talk on my cell phone while i'm driving so i have nothing to worry about.

What's a Cell Phone? You mean there is a device that you can use to talk to someone while you're driving?

[Landshark]

Originally Posted by mohrds

What's a Cell Phone? You mean there is a device that you can use to talk to someone while you're driving?

i think i use maybe 45 minutes/month on my cell phone, and i share it with my wife.

what are all these extremely important calls that need to be made by people in their cars?

while i'm ranting, WTF is the deal with text messaging? how stupid is that? if you have something to tell/ask me, how about just calling?
i'm not going to sit there and tappity-tap out some stupid message. "I R HERE. WHERE R U?"

[benebob]

Woo hoo! I can still ride my motorcycle with my bluetooth! Its so much safer than a cell phone.

[Landshark]

Originally Posted by benebob

Woo hoo! I can still ride my motorcycle with my bluetooth!

you should see a dentist about that.

[dcarrb]

Originally Posted by Landshark

i think i use maybe 45 minutes/month on my cell phone, and i share it with my wife.

what are all these extremely important calls that need to be made by people in their cars?

while i'm ranting, WTF is the deal with text messaging? how stupid is that? if you have something to tell/ask me, how about just calling?
i'm not going to sit there and tappity-tap out some stupid message. "I R HERE. WHERE R U?"

Amen.

On another forum I frequent there was an exchange about this and people were actually defending text messaging in the car. (Well, I only do it, like, when I'm stopped at a red light.")

I've got one of those prepay cell phone deals that only runs about $10 a month, because I rarely use it. It's a nice luxury, but most calls can wait 'til I'm home.

These type of ordinances will be traffic ticket add-ons, like a burned-out tail light. I doubt most cops will stop someone just for yammering on the phone unless something else has caught their attention.

dcb

[budbaer]

I've never been comfortable talking on the phone while driving. I do have to agree with Hocrest, there will be a lot of places that abuse the law, just like any new law that they can use to generate income. I drive in Pittsburgh's rush hour traffic a lot and I see more people on the phone than not on the phone. I think that this is a law that needs to be passed on a federal level. There are too many 17 year old kids out there in mom's 5000 pound box of death, I mean Durango, talking on the phone and driving like their on an autocross course.

[processengr]

FYI,
The low cost WallyWorld unit in this linkhttp://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...645793#reviews

just fits our SVXi. I had to drill out the spot welds in the cage to remove the rear plate, the unit is about 1/8" too long. Then, pull all the wiring below unit before putting in the "pocket". I used the excellent adapter and instruction available on the SVXWN. The unit is not an audiophile unit, but the Bluetooth hands free works very well, and the sound is as good or better than the original unit. If i had to install this again, I would hit the back on a belt sander to remove about 1/16" on the drivers side.
The average cost of just the bluetooth adaptor for a "bluetooth ready" unit is $200.00. Delivered, this unit was $162.xx