Our great governor of the state of NY, David Paterson, has signed into law a ban on all texting while driving beginning November.
The ban says that drivers won't be ticketed just for texting alone, but rather if you do something dangerous such as cross a double yellow or go through a stop sign because your fingers were clicking away. You'd then get the ticket for that violation plus the texting violation.
The new laws also include amendments to some older ones. Those under 18 with a permit must now have it for atleast six months in addition to written certification of 50 hours of driving. You could get your license before by simply completing just 20 hours.
Those of us that are under 21 (me!) can now only have one friend (non-family person) in the car at any time instead of two like before. It's understandable that driver distractions like a car full of friends needs to be reduced, but does that mean that a trip to the mall with five friends requires three cars?
It'll be interesting to see the statistical changes by this time next year with all of the bans that went into effect this summer.
theCD's take: Texting while driving is really dangerous. It takes a second at 40 mph for the car to veer of to the side or that car in front of you to need to brake and turn left. Just put the phone down until you're wherever you need to be or possibly wait until a stoplight...
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