Teenage Driving Law Signed by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger

California teenage motorists beware: the Governator may fine you if you're caught chatting and driving. Senate Bill 33 was signed by Arnold Schwarzenegger, governor of California. It contains legislation to ban minors from using pagers, cell phones and other communication devices while driving. The law will take into effect in July 2008.

Violations of this law will not come cheap, either. On your first offense, you must pay $20. After that, it will be $50 for every offense.

However, according to the bill's language, you will not be fined if you are using a device for emergency purposes or if you use a push-to-talk device with wireless capabilities and doesn't require you to hold it to your ear.

"The simple fact is that teenage drivers are more easily distracted. They are young, inexperienced and have a slower reaction time. We want to eliminate any extra distractions so they can focus on paying attention to the road and being good drivers," said Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in a press release.

The National Transportation Safety Board has asked the country to look into similar laws. Their request has worked: California is one of 15 states and the District of Columbia that have been considering laws restricting new drivers and their use of communications devices while driving. The Ford Motor company reported that cell phone use distracted teenage drivers four times more than adults.

Driving statistics by the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety do indicate that teenage drivers are definitely involved in driving mishaps. 13.6 percent of fatal crashes include teenagers, even though only 6.3% of licensed drivers are under the age of 20. Drivers from 16 to 19 years old have a fatality rate 4 times higher than those who are between 25 and 69.

The bill was debated earlier this year with some scrutiny. It was introduced by Senator Joe Simitian (D) who created it with intentions to save lives. Another senator, Tom McClintock, felt that it could prevent parents from calling teenagers if they were worried about them, but Simitian argued that the bill doesn't prevent a teenager from pulling over and using the phone. The bill ended up passing in the Senate 22-14.

It is different from another law in California that will be enacted that prevents all motorists from driving while holding a cell phone to their ear. That law will also go into effect July 2008.

SOURCE:

California Governor's Office

URLS:

http://gov.ca.gov/index.php?/press-release/7406/

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/postquery?bill_number=sb_33&sess=CUR&house=B&author=simitian