California Working Towards Imposing Stricter Punishments for Those That Text While Driving

Billions of people now own cellular phones and even though they can be used for many things, they often cause automobile accidents. People both young and old text or use their cell phones while driving which can lead to them having issues with being able to give enough attention to the task of driving in accordance with the state’s traffic laws. The state of California has had enough of finding drivers ignoring the ban on texting while driving so they have taken action to make the punishment for the offense much more severe than ever before.
The current fine that people receive for texting while driving in the state is $20.00 which is pretty laughable when most parking tickets cost more than $30 to $40 dollars and getting a parking ticket cannot end someone’s life. Many people have been in accidents with drivers who lost control of their vehicles because they were paying too much attention to their cell phone and hit someone and hurt or injured them. The new proposed fine would be $50 dollar which would really help to deter people from being repeat offenders because the economy is bad and more than doubling the standard fine that is imposed might just wake people up to the severity of this type of offense so that they think twice before doing it. Those individuals that commit the offense more than once would be fined $100 which is an increase of 100% from the previous fine of $50.
People who ride bikes will also face fines for texting while biking which some states do not even do. This is because they do not see a bike as a vehicle because anyone regardless of age can use one without having to have a driver’s license so it can be hard to issue a fine these individuals if they have no ID on them. A person who bikes and commits the offense would be fined $20 dollars and then $50 dollars for each offense afterwards. The idea is a novel one and could help reduce accidents involving bikes that suddenly veer in front of vehicles.
The law would also add one point to a person’s driver’s license after each texting while driving offense that occurs after their first offense. When a person accrues too many points on their driver’s license it becomes suspended which can create a huge problem for people that need to commute to work, run errands, go to school, or take care of their families. The idea is unique because it would really impact repeat offenders and put them in danger of having their driving privileges revoked. There are many drivers out there who have no regard for the law so if they keep getting caught then they might be off the road which could end up saving lives down the road.
 
One issue that police officers face is that it can be difficult to spot every driver that is not acting in accordance with the ban in the state of California. Most drivers can send a text message in under 30 seconds so more police officers might be needed to make sure that violators are being spotted and ticketed.
California is really working hard to create laws that tackle finding and punishing people who endanger others by texting while driving. Hopefully, the proposed changes will be passed o that the roads are safer for motorists. No one should get hurt or die because a driver was too busy looking at a cell phone display screen and keyboard to pay attention to the road in front of them.
Source:
Email Wire