California Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, has signed a bill that bars teens from using their cellphones while they are driving. Well it’s about damn time, right? I have seen some of these people that I see with their cellphones attached to the steering wheel, yelling into the phone while it’s on speaker. That’s worse. No calling, text messaging, no laptops, no nothing, just drive! A year ago the everyone got the smack down about driving and “talking” at the same time, but this law is going to tighten things up a bit for teens, ages 16 & 17. Over 18 years old, you can drive if you have the “hands free” option for your phone, under 18, don’t even try it.

Last month, an 18-year-old driver in Phoenix who was text-messaging hit another car, killing herself and the other driver. In 2005, a Sacramento area police officer was struck and killed by a 26-year-old driver who was texting a friend while driving. Police suspect text-messaging played a role in a horrific head-on crash this summer in New York state that killed five teenagers who had just graduated from high school five days earlier. The 17-year-old driver had been text-messaging just moments before. She was among the dead.

All of these are preventable and we will see what happens with this law. The first offense is $20 and each one thereafter is going to cost you $50. I know there are a lot of people reading right now that think, “well, what about people that just collect the fines and don’t pay on time?”, well, they should be ban from cell phone usage altogether then, right? If you can’t be responsible enough to know when it’s ok to use a cell phone, you shouldn’t be able to own one. Just like if you are a felon, you know you shouldn’t be owning a gun and if the state has anything to do with it, you won’t be.