California to ban teens from driving with cell phones

California is the latest state to adopt laws requiring drivers to use headsets while talking and operating a vehicle. They’ve taken the law one step further, though, toughening the restrictions on teens. Not only will they be banned from using their handsets while driving, they won’t even have the option of using a hands-free device. As of July 1, 2008, all teenagers will be barred from using their cell phones — along with a number of other devices — while driving.

The law includes cell phones, pagers, laptops, and handheld computers. Question: do iPods count as handheld computers? We certainly hope not. Deprive kids of communication while driving if you want, but don’t take away their music.

In a way, we really like this bill. Yeah, we’ve all been kids, and we would be outraged if this was signed into law while we were still affected. However, reflecting on these times, it would have been a good idea. Teenagers on the whole are not good drivers — we’ll admit that we were no good behind the wheel at that age. This restriction makes things a bit safer.

Cell phone use is a leading cause of distracted-driver accidents in the state, according to the California Highway Patrol. Car crashes in general are the leading cause of death among 16 to 20 year olds, accounting for 44% of teen deaths in the U.S. About 6,000 teenage drivers or passengers die each year in car crashes.

While representing 6.3% of the nation’s licensed drivers, teenagers account for 13.6% of fatal crashes, according to the governor’s office. A 2004 study showed that drivers age 16 to 19 have a fatality rate that’s four times the rate of drivers 25 to 69.

Now, there are surveys that dispute these findings. One, conducted by University of California at Berkeley, “found no correlation between mobile phone use during weekday evening driving and car crashes.” We really call that into question. Our powers of observation have shown us that everyone is a menace while talking and driving. Teenagers, that is, people with less experience on the road, are going to be even more of a menace.

The only problem with this is the penalty: $20 for the first offense, $50 for subsequent violations. Eh, so they’ll have to work a couple more hours at Starbucks if they get caught. No biggie.

[Information Week]

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