Two years after new California law, handheld cell phone use on the road remains widespread

"Two years after California made it illegal to use a handheld phone while driving, the law remains one of the most ignored in the state, as suggested by the estimated half-million tickets that have been issued so far.

The California Highway Patrol released a report Wednesday that said talking on a cell phone while behind the wheel has become the leading factor contributing to crashes blamed on inattentive drivers."
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Location Oakland, Ca - Private Investigator

Cell phone and texting driver laws

"A jurisdiction-wide ban on driving while talking on a hand-held cellphone is in place in 8 states (California, Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Utah, and Washington) and the District of Columbia. Utah has named the offense careless driving. Under the Utah law, no one commits an offense when speaking on a cellphone unless they are also committing some other moving violation other than speeding.

Local jurisdictions may or may not need specific state statutory authority to ban cellphones. Localities that have enacted restrictions on cellphone use include: Oahu, HI; Chicago, IL; Brookline, MA; Detroit, MI; Santa Fe, NM; Brooklyn, North Olmstead, and Walton Hills, OH; Conshohocken, Lebanon, and West Conshohocken, PA; Waupaca County, WI; and Cheyenne, WY.

The use of all cellphones while driving a school bus is prohibited in 19 states and the District of Columbia.
The use of all cellphones by novice drivers is restricted in 27 states and the District of Columbia.

Text messaging is banned for all drivers in 28 states and the District of Columbia. In addition, novice drivers are banned from texting in 9 states (Alabama, Delaware, Indiana, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, and West Virginia) and school bus drivers are banned from text messaging in 2 states (Oklahoma, and Texas).

The table below shows the states that have cellphone laws, whether they specifically ban text messaging, and whether they are enforced as primary or secondary laws. Under secondary laws, an officer must have some other reason to stop a vehicle before citing a driver for using a cellphone. Laws without this restriction are called primary."

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Location Oakland, Ca - Private Investigator

New proposal would require identification to buy prepaid cellphones

"A bipartisan pair of Senate leaders have introduced a first-of-its-kind bill aimed at stopping terrorist suspects such as the would-be Times Square bomber from hiding their identities by using prepaid cellphones to plot their attacks.

The legislation sponsored by Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) would require buyers to present identification when purchasing a prepaid cellphone and require phone companies to keep the information on file, as they do with users of landline phones and subscription-based cellphones. The proposal would require the carriers to retain the data for 18 months after the phone's deactivation."  
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Location Oakland, Ca - Private Investigator