Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/12/08/virginia-bans-cellphone-use-while-driving-starts-january-2021.html
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I think this is good news. It seems that those dramatic PSAs don’t work:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Text+Drive+PSA
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This isn’t already a thing? That’s nuts.
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Virginia is approaching First World status: must be driving the Trumpies nuts.
–observed sadly from AZ, where texting while driving appears to be mandatory.
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It doesn’t seem that they’ve actually banned phone calls while driving rather it sounds like they’re just mandating hands-free driving.
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It’s not perfect but it minimizes the amount of time people spend looking at their phones instead of the road.
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“Hands free driving”?
I don’t think that’s quite what you mean.
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Right? Headline ripped straight from 1998.
From what I remember of studies on the topic, hands free talking is about equivalent in terms of distraction to just talking with a passenger. Hands-on phone use is roughly equivalent to driving with an 0.080 blood alcohol level…
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No, Virginia is not banning cellphone use while driving. It’s requiring a hands-free kit to use a cellphone while driving. It’s a sop to cell phone companies, which make a lot of money off people who use cell phones while driving.
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Quick research shows they did have laws against texting and driving prior to this, but not against holding a phone and taking a call. It also looks like only half of the US states are outright banning hands-on use of cellphones, while most states do have laws against texting.
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If they banned hands-free cellphone usage, every cop, emergency response driver and uber/lyft driver would be an outlaw. That said, if someone is making hands-free calls while driving, they really should be using voice activation. Alas, Texas has a law against texting while driving that many drivers ignore because they’re fucking morons.
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My state is on that list, and the enforcement is shitty.
Frankly, if they would pull over every driver blocking the fast lane on the highway, they’d get 80% of the people who are illegally using their phone.
I can see them in their rear-view mirror. Head up. Head down. Head up. Head down. Head down. Head down. Emergency brake.
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Curiously, I’ve seen more than a few Austin drivers who aren’t paying attention to their driving. I expect to catch them texting, but some of them are holding performance art (judging by the animated gesticulation of their hands which should be on the damn wheel) for their passenger. About half of them are wearing cowboy hats. Drive now, flirt later, and stop reinforcing Texas stereotypes.
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Oh. As an Italian-American, I resemble that remark. 
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There are already exceptions for cops, who have mobile data units, AKA laptop computers, in their cars. Plus Lyft and Uber drivers do violate California’s hands-free driving law all the time by poking at their cell phone mapping apps while driving - that isn’t allowed.
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The starkest indicator I’ve seen around here in recent times that attentive driving protocols are in a state of utter disintegration is the frequency (almost daily it seems) that the light turns green and everyone just sits there. Sometimes across multiple lanes. The previously relatively seamless coupling between our nervous systems and “meatspace” is glitching out like a zoom meeting on DSL, but with kinetic energy weapons.
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Light turns green.
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Dumbass sits there.
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Dumbass finds their accelerator right before light turns yellow.
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Dumbass illegally enters intersection on yellow.
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Light turns red, reflecting my blood pressure.
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I think it is slightly more dangerous, because an adult passenger will usually have the sense to be quiet while the driver is approaching a dangerous intersection or similar.
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I got pulled over by the NYPD in 2003 or ‘04 for using my cell phone while sitting at a red light. I was actually just putting in ear drops for an infection, so I didn’t get a ticket, but they were super aggressive back then with big fines and points on your license. I can’t comprehend why this isn’t the case everywhere.
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I had assumed cell phone use while driving was already banned in most, if not all, states, so reading this headline was…odd, as if I’d been transported back in time to before it was very obviously clear that using a cell phone while driving is dangerous.
