Using your cell phone
while driving attracts a fine of some R500
in Mzansi. Actually, holding a cell
phone in hand while driving attracts
that amount. Whether you were actually using the thing or not is irrelevant. Now
U.S. authorities want a total ban on cell phone use by drivers,
which is already happening here, as stated above. Except for one twist.
Not only will you not be able to SMS, send/ read emails or make calls while
driving, but you will not be allowed to use hands-free kits either! That’s right, whether Bluetooth or Parrot or whatever system, the US National Transportation
Safety Board wants it out of your car. Immediately!
The US is behind South
Africa in this kind of legislation,
as not all States have outlawed the
use of cell phones while driving. This ban, if approved, will sweep whatever laws we have straight
off the cliff and put brands like Parrot
out of business. And as is the case with most laws, how in the world do they
plan on enforcing it? I guess the assumption
will be that if you are “caught”
speaking while driving alone, then you have been breaking the law? Laughable yes,
but I don’t see any other way.
What do you think?
* Pictures courtesy of Gontse Masemola
4 comments:
That sounds very draconian to me I must say
And then what happens if you paid top dollar for your Bluetooth connection? Does the state reimburse you? Americans with their silly ideas man
please SA dont follow these crazy americans they are mad
I agree something needs to be done on this topic. The suggested method is not the brightest solution i have ever seen and certainly raises some other questions.
I have not seen a hands free kit in a long times, does not mean they are not around.
My concern is, what about cars with built in bluetooth these days. Do they now expect people to now pull their cars apart just to pull that little pace of tech out! Not going to happen. Cell phones are not the only BT devices out there.
Some hypothetical examples of possible common situations where this could backfire. A lot of what if's scenarios.
What about if someone has an mp3 player / device with BT on it?
What if someone has an mp3 player like and ipod etc which is plugged into the radio and they just happen to have it in their hands at the wrong time and that gets mistaken for a phone.
Someone is singing to a song they like on the radio or listening to an mp3, even just talking to themselves and they get stopped as the cops thought they were talking on a hands free phone?
What about someone who uses the BT function on their gps device which is linked to their cars sound system. not that you can really mistake a gps or anything else but i am sure they will try to pull something.
The list of questions is long, so unless this gets extremely well documented and detailed, the info is freely available, i am going to call it a laughable heap of total BS they us are trying to pull just like this sopa bill crap they are trying to pass as of this writing.
Instead of trying to make it complicated that could potentially cause a lot of people time, money, frustration and possibly adding to the unemployment line, lets simplify it. On top of police sitting on the side of the road, I have lost count of how many times i have seen regular police and metro cops that simply drive past people talking on their phones. Simply pull them over then and there and give them a fine which is only payable at traffic department or at a small court that count be setup for this. Most certainly not payable to the cops. If you want to get serious then a fine and a court summon at the same time. Non negotiable. If you don't show up to the court once a time and date has been specified, a warrant is placed for your arrest. If the government can get off their fat backsides and actually setup a proper working small court like they did for the soccer world cup, i don't see why they cannot do this.
Whatever solution needs to be put in place, needs to be a long term solution and not a quick fix.
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