News Room: SB 33: Teen Driver Cell Phone Safety

Today, the California State Senate passed Senate Bill 1310, a bill by State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) which would strengthen California’s hands-free and no texting laws for motorists. The vote was 24-9. read more ...

In an editorial, the San Jose Mercury News said:

Death and injuries from traffic accidents have plummeted in California, a trend tied to the 2008 law that bans gabbing on handheld cellphones while driving. Memo to all those drivers still yakking away: Wake up. Distracted driving can kill.

The number of deaths caused by driving while chattering on handheld cellphones dropped by half in the two years after the law took effect compared with the two years before, according to a study released by the state Office of Traffic Safety. That dramatic improvement should persuade 41 other states to enact similar laws. The rest already have.

State Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, take a bow. He pushed the bill until his reluctant colleagues agreed to pass it. Credit also goes to the California Highway Patrol and local police throughout the state for aggressively enforcing the ban. They seem to have wholeheartedly embraced it, probably because they have to deal with the heartbreak of fatal accidents.

read more ...

According to a study announced Monday by the state Office of Traffic Safety, since a state law forbidding the use of handheld phones on the road went into effect in 2008, the number of traffic deaths in California declined by 22 percent. With fewer drivers yakking into handheld phones, the death-by-cellphone rate dropped an even more stunning 47 percent.

“Those are huge numbers,” said Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, author of the bill whose outcome the study tracked, while taking a (hands-free) victory lap after the announcement.
During a two-year period after the law was implemented, there were 53 deaths caused by drivers holding cellphones, compared with 100 in the two years before the law took effect. This came as total accidents and fatalities were down overall for reasons as varied as more cars having air bags.

“The drop in collisions was the biggest, single, year-to-year drop in the history of the state since the CHP began keeping the data,” Simitian said.

read more ...

State Senator Joe Simitian of California, who succeeded in getting a law passed in 2006 that bans drivers there from talking on a hand-held phone, called the board’s recommendation “a wake-up call about the dangers of distracted driving.”

Yet, he also said he doubted it would achieve the desired result because it was unlikely that legislators in California or elsewhere would be able to pass such a ban. Mr. Simitian noted that he spent five years trying to push a ban on hand-held devices, and faced intense opposition from the phone industry.

“It’s a political nonstarter,” he said, adding that he would not attempt to propose a total ban on drivers using their devices. “I don’t believe you’ll see such a ban in my lifetime.” For all his skepticism, though, he acknowledged that political winds could shift. “A decade ago, people didn’t think we’d have a hands-free law in California. Only time will tell.”

read more ...

Today, the California State Legislature passed Senate Bill 28, by State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto), which would strengthen California’s hands-free and no-texting laws for motorists. The bill heads to the Governor’s desk for consideration. read more ...

Recently released collision and fatality data from the California Highway Patrol (CHP) confirms that California’s streets and highways are safer following the implementation of California’s “hands-free” cell phone law. read more ...

State Sen. Joe Simitian -- the lawmaker responsible for California's "hands-free" cell phone law -- is one of about 200 people participating in a summit on distracted driving today (Sept. 30) in Washington, D.C. read more ...

Sacramento – State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) will be participating in U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood’s Distracted Driving Summit this week in Washington, D.C. The Department of Transportation has invited 200 participants from around the country to determine the best ways to reduce the number of crashes and deaths due to distracted driving. read more ...

Sacramento – State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) announced today that research conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) estimates 300-900 lives will be saved annually once California’s hands-free cell phone law goes into effect. read more ...

Allan Quach says he talks on his cell phone while driving, but tries to chat only with parents or friends who urgently need to talk to him. But minors like him won't be able to do that much longer, at least not legally. Come July 1, thousands of 16- and 17-year-olds in California will be prohibited from using cell phones, PDAs, laptops and pagers while driving, under a bill signed Thursday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. read more ...

Starting next July, California teenagers will have to hang up the phone before getting behind the wheel. At Redwood City's Sequoia High School on Thursday, Governor Schwarzenegger signed a bill banning anyone under 18 years of age from using electronic devices while driving, including cell phones. read more ...

Governor Schwarzenegger announced today that he will hold a bill signing ceremony in Redwood City to sign into law State Senator Joe Simitian’s (D-Palo Alto) SB 33, which will prohibit drivers under the age of 18 from using a cell phone, pager, text messaging device, or laptop while driving. The bill will go into effect on July 1, 2008. read more ...

California has included a couple of sensible restrictions on young drivers to help keep their attention on the road. For example, a newly licensed driver is not allowed to transport passengers under the age of 20 unless accompanied by a parent, driving instructor or other adult age 25 or older. Also, drivers under 18 are not allowed to be on the road after 11 p.m. On Thursday, the state Senate voted 23-14 to add another restriction on under-18 licensees: Under SB33, authored by Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, it would be illegal for them to use any type of cell phone, pager or text-messaging device while driving. Violations would be an infraction - which would not count as a "point" against the driver's record - subject to fines of $20 for a first-time offense and $50 for each subsequent offense. read more ...

Citing a fistful of studies that show teenagers among the most distracted and dangerous of drivers, the state Assembly on Monday passed a bill that would prohibit drivers under the age of 18 from using a cellphone, pager, text-messaging device or laptop while driving. The bill passed by a 62-5 vote, with Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia (R-Cathedral City) noting that teenagers make up 6% of licensed drivers but 16% of auto accident fatalities. read more ...

A new law means texting and gabbing on the phone while driving could soon be a thing of the past for teen drivers starting next July. The state Assembly passed state Sen. Joe Simitian’s proposal to ban the use of cell phones by teen drivers under 18 years old with a 62-5 vote yesterday. The bill, which passed the state Senate in April, now goes back to the Senate for a final vote on Assembly amendments, then on to the governor who has 30 days to sign or veto the bill. read more ...

The state Assembly overwhelmingly passed a bill Monday that bans teenage drivers younger than 18 from using their cell phones - with a hands-free device or not - while they are behind the wheel. SB 33, by Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, makes it an infraction for those younger than 18 to use a cell phone, pager, text-messaging device or laptop while driving. read more ...

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KCBS) -- California drivers under 18 who use cell phones or other wireless devices while driving could face a small fine, under a bill passed by the state Assembly. read more ...

Sacramento – State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) announced today that the State Assembly passed SB 33, his bill to prohibit drivers under the age of 18 from using a cell phone, pager, text-messaging device, or laptop while driving, on an initial vote of 62-5. The bill, which passed the State Senate in April, now goes to the State Senate for a final vote on Assembly amendments, then on to the Governor who has 30 days to sign or veto the bill. read more ...

Teenagers are marvels of multitasking, as parents who have seen their kids simultaneously download iTunes while doing quadratic equations, watching "Laguna Beach," talking on the phone, sending an instant message and microwaving a burrito know full well. Driving, however, is one skill they haven't mastered. To help keep their hands on the wheel and their eyes on the road, state Sen. Joe Simitian is proposing to make it illegal for drivers under 18 to talk on a cell phone or send text messages while driving. It's an excellent idea. read more ...

About one year from now, July 1, 2008, it will be illegal to talk on a hand-held cell phone and drive a car in California. The bill was sponsored by state Senator Joe Simitian of Palo Alto. And it's one of many legal responses to the hazard of distracted drivers on our nation's roads and highways. Studies show that talking on a cell phone, while you drive, is about as dangerous as driving drunk. And traffic safety officials in California say that most accidents result from drivers being distracted. Legislatures have passed laws against use of cell phones while driving. Text messaging while driving has also been the target of state prohibitions. read more ...

Convinced that gripping a cell phone while driving would become illegal Sunday, a customer walked into Jacob Peykar’s wireless store to beat the deadline.

Peykar said Thursday that he tried to tell his persistent customer that the hands-free law was still a year away, but to no avail. The man spent $300 at the Woodland Hills shop to deck out his wife, kids and mother with blinking blue earpieces.

“He was so convinced, I almost believed him, too,” Peykar said.

But Peykar’s customer and lots of other Californians are wrong. The law will take effect July 1 — of 2008.

Full Story on LA Daily News Website

read more ...

The bill that would ban teen drivers under age 18 from chatting on cell phones or text messaging is motoring ahead at the Capitol, with approval from key committees in both houses.

SB 33, co-authored by Sen. Joe Simitian, a Bay Area Democrat, and GOP Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia, from Riverside County, aims to pry distractions from teen drivers’ hands so they can focus on the road.

Is the Legislature picking on teens?

Simitian said he tells them: “Look, you’re crashing at five times the rate of your 18-year-old friends. We’re not picking on anybody. We’re trying to save lives.”

Full story on Sacramento Bee website

read more ...

It’s time for California’s teen-aged drivers to put down their cell phones, pagers and PDAs, and pay attention to their driving.

Year after year, car crashes are the number one cause of death among teenagers. In fact, the fatality rate for drivers 16-19 years old is four times that of older drivers in the 25-69 year-old age range. Across the country, more than 6,000 teen-aged drivers a year are killed on our nation’s streets and highways.

Among the culprits: cell phones, pagers and PDAs. The young drivers who are using these devices while driving are putting not only themselves at risk, but all of us as well.

That’s why we authored Senate Bill 33, which prohibits new drivers under the age of 18 from driving while using a cell phone or pager, or while text messaging. For ease of administration, the new law would take effect on July 1st, 2008, when other drivers, 18 and older, will be required to drive “hands-free” if they’re using a cell phone.

Full story on San Mateo Daily Journal website

read more ...

SACRAMENTO - California teenage drivers may have to put down their cell phones and other wireless devices while driving beginning next year if legislation proposed by state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, becomes law. read more ...

Sacramento – State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) announced today that the State Senate passed SB 33, his bill to prohibit drivers under the age of 18 from using a cell phone while driving, on a bipartisan 21-14 vote. The bill will now be sent to the Assembly for a hearing in June or July. read more ...