Assemblyman Bill Quirk has proposed new limits on cellphone use while driving and in CBS’s report on this proposal, they included an interview with Safety Center’s own Gail Kelly, Senior Vice President of Community Programs.
Gail: “Doing anything that takes your eyes off the road, it creates a situation where you get inattention blindness. That means that 50% of what’s going around you, you’re not even seeing.”
The most recent bill related to cellphone use while driving was passed in 2008, the Wireless Communications Device Law (effective January 2009) stating that NO DRIVER in California may write, send, or read text messages while behind the wheel. The Handheld Wireless Telphone Laws (effective July 2008) also state that 1) California drivers may NOT use a wireless telephone while driving at any time unless to make an emergency call to 911, law enforcement, or similar services and 2) drivers MAY utilize a “hands-free device” UNLESS they are under 18 years old.
The new assembly bill AB 1785 would not allow drivers to do anything with their smartphones while driving, unless the phone is out of their hands, mounted on the car dashboard or console.