Bill Number and Name: SB 33, Wireless Telephones and Mobile Service Devices
Author: Senator Joe Simitian (Palo Alto)
Web Link to bill language (as amended 7/12/07): www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/sen/sb_0001-0050/sb_33_bill_20070712_amended_asm_v94.html
Summary: From July 1, 2008 onwards, this bill would prohibit a person possessing a valid instruction permit, student license, or provisional license, from driving a motor vehicle while using a wireless telephone or a mobile service device, as the bill would define that term, including a handset equipped with a hands-free device. The bill would provide that this prohibition does not apply to a person using a wireless telephone or a mobile service device for emergency purposes. By creating a new infraction, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would prohibit a law enforcement officer from stopping a vehicle for the sole purpose of determining whether the driver is violating this prohibition, and would prohibit a violation point from being given for a conviction of violating the prohibition.
Need for the bill (from CBC Staff):
• According to the National Safety council, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of teen fatalities, accounting for 44% of teen deaths in the U.S.
• The California Highway Patrol has recently collected data that shows that cell phone use is the number one source of distracted-driver related accidents in the state.
• Teen drivers are far more likely than older drivers to be involved in accidents because they lack driving experience and tend to take greater risks. They are also more easily distracted. According to Ford Motor Company research, teen drivers are four times more distracted than adult drivers by cell phone use.
• Sixteen-year-olds drivers have a crash rate three times more than 17-year-olds, five times greater than 18-year olds and almost ten times greater than drivers age 30-59 (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2001).
• This bill prohibits inexperienced teen drivers from using cell phones and other mobile service devices (i.e. walkie talkies, pagers, two-way messaging devices, laptops, etc.) while driving for any purpose including gaming and text-messaging.
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