About 100 new state laws are in effect right now and authorities aren’t letting any of them slip by

“Everybody I’ve run into or talked to has asked me about the new laws so the word is getting around quick,” said Senior Winnebago County Sheriff’s Deputy Anthony Moore.

About half of the new laws can be found under the Illinois Vehicle Code, that’s nearly 50 new traffic related laws. Among them, trucks are no longer held to a 55mph limit in most 65mph zones, uninsured motorists can be jailed rather than just fined, and Sergeant Doug Bushman tells us about the two we’ve all heard so much about.

“It’s now illegal to operate a motor vehicle and text at the same time, and it’s also illegal to use a cell phone in a school zone, in a construction zone or a maintenance zone.”

If you’re caught texting the consequences are similar to a speeding ticket, but if your cell phone use results in an accident, the charges get much worse.

“If people are injured or killed, and I find a cell phone in the car, then what I’m going to end up doing is getting a search warrant to be able to obtain information off the phone to find out whether or not they were on the phone at the time of the crash and if the are, then that will enhance the charges on it,” said Deputy Moore.

Some critics of the new cell phone laws argue that it’s just another way for the state to make money, but Deputy Moore says otherwise.

“If you think about it, next time you’re on your cell phone when you hang up your cell phone try to remember what you just passed and you probably won’t because people, act the same way a drunk acts, they can’t remember where they’re at or what they just passed.”

The Illinois Secretary of State’s office has a 68 page packet that covers most of the new laws.

You can access the packet, which includes most of the details and fine print, at:

http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/police/lawupdate0910.pdf

Source: WIFR.com

As of January 1st, 2010, drivers in Austin, TX cannot legally use cell phones for anything other than phone calls. That means no texting, no scrolling, no surfing, no navigating while driving on a public roadway unless you need to report an emergency.

There will be a one-month grace period, during which offenders will get off with a warning. After that, violations are Class C misdemeanors that could result in a $500 fine. Here are some answers to questions about the law.

How will the ban be enforced?

With difficulty. Officers will make stops based primarily on erratic driving, said Austin Assistant Police Chief Al Eells. Beyond that, police will have to catch a driver in the act to make a traffic stop. Because dialing a cell phone can look like texting, an officer will need to watch a driver for a “prolonged” period of time to make sure he’s actually texting, said Cmdr. Stephen Baker, who heads up Austin Police Department’s highway enforcement command.

Moreover, since the violation must also occur while the vehicle is moving, the observing officer essentially will have to be driving alongside a potential offender. Thus, for safety reasons, the opportunity to view driving-and-texting scofflaws will occur mainly in slower, city driving. “It’s going to be a lot of officer discretion,” Baker said.

What about the surfing/scrolling/e-mailing part of the ban: How will that be enforced?

Lightly. It will be difficult to distinguish whether a driver is, say, looking up a contact to dial (legal) or reading e-mail (illegal). “If a person is just holding a cell phone up in front of his face and reading it, we don’t make that stop,” Baker said. “There’s no way we’re going to be taking those to court.”

Will police take my cell phone and read my texts?

While prosecutors say such searches would be legal, Baker said Austin police won’t search anyone’s phone.

What if I’m from out of town and haven’t heard about the law?

Driver beware. Eells said the city will place informational brochures at places such as the airport and convention center. “Will that capture the guy traveling through Austin on I-35? Probably not,” he said.

Will anyone be arrested?

Not unless the driver refuses to sign a citation. A texting violation won’t go on the driver’s record, either.

How big is the problem locally?

Austin police report that since the beginning of the year, there have been 129 serious collisions in which cell phones have been implicated and 12 involving texting while driving.

Why is texting banned and not cell phones? Read the rest of this entry »