I think it means you’re no longer allowed to drive and use the mobile phone at the same time _unless_ you have one of those fancy hands-free devices which is, supposedly, meant to keep you from becoming too distracted from the high-priority task of safely operating the vehicle for which you’re sitting behind the wheel.  Imagine that!  Safety first?  The nerve of these California law makers.  How dare they pass SB1613.

Seriously, though, the powers at hand have made a weak attempt to improve the safety for Californians on the road.  “Why?”, you ask.  How bout this:

• The base fine for the FIRST offense is $20 and $50 for subsequent convictions. With the addition of penalty assessments, the fines can be more than triple the base fine amount. Egads, batman!  More than triple?  What’s that, like $75?  Ha!  $20 is laughable for a first offense.  Not to mention, what are the odds you’ll get hit twice with this charge?  Hardly a deterrent.
• The new law does not prohibit dialing, but drivers are strongly urged not to dial while driving. “Strongly urged”?  It would seem more attention is required to dial than to talk.
• The law does not specifically prohibit [text messaging], but an officer can pull over and issue a citation to a driver of any age if, in the officer’s opinion, the driver was distracted and not operating the vehicle safely. Sending text messages while driving is unsafe at any speed and is strongly discouraged.  Again with the “strongly urged.”  I don’t get it.  Does anyone actually care about safety on the road?

This is all equivalent to having done nothing.  Someone should tell these law-makers that mobile computing is growing, it’s growing fast, and it’s going to be in all our cars via our cell phones.  Anyone who can sell you something on the Internet is trying to figure out how to sell it to you on your phone.  Forget about talking, text messaging is more distracting while driving.  (Who has time to watch the road when he’s busy replying to @JustinLL on Twitter?)  And tomorrow’s drivers are the biggest users, as they’re the ones growing up with 24/7 interconnection to mobile friends and marketers.

I hope local law enforcement agencies come out strong enforcing the law and its penalties.  However, it’s also bothersome that valuable resources are being wasted dealing with this issue.

On a similar note, SB33, which prevents drivers under the age of 18 from using a cell phone at all, also goes into effect July 1, 2008.

Read more about both new laws at the California DMV’s frequently asked questions.

Drive Safely.  It’s usually the other driver’s fault.