In Southern California, driving is extremely important.  As evidenced by Los Angeles and Orange County traffic, our lives simply demand that we spend a lot of time in our cars.  At the same time, cellular phones have become a bigger part of our lives each year.

A decade ago, lawmakers were concerned about people driving while talking in the phone.  Driving while talking on the phone was thought to be too distracting and unsafe to allow.  Today, the thought of someone holding a phone to their head as they drive pales in comparison to the reality of what we are actually seeing all around us.

Phones do more than ever before.  We're not just making phone calls anymore, but are able to send text messages, e-mails, pictures and access the entirety of the wold wide web from mobile devices.  Now, that driver next to you isn't just talking to someone, taking part of their mind and attention away from the task of driving.  No.  Now, the driver next to you might also have his/her hands, eyes and full attention on their phone.  This raises new dangers, and I believe it will soon be the subject of significant legal changes.

Early efforts to deal with cell phone use while driving have been slight.  I've seen cops see me on my phone many times, but have luckily never been cited.  Could you imagine a police officer seeing you drink a beer in your car and letting it slide? 

Driving under the influence (DUI) laws have changed drastically over the past few decades and DUI has become one of the most zealously prosecuted crimes in our courts.  Not only was the legal BAC limit lowered to .08, but enforcement mechanisms like DUI checkpoints have substantially increased the number of DUI arrests.  Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) has led one of the most successful lobbying efforts in our history, getting legislators to disregard our constitutional freedoms in favor of stricter penalties for and stricter enforcement of DUI. 

Would you be surprised to know that people are worse drivers while using their phones than while drunk?  A drunk with two hands on the wheel and two eyes on the road might be better than a teenager steering with his/her knee while trying to respond to a friend's picture on instagram.  Keeping your eyes on the road is imperative, but cannot be done correctly while texting or tweeting.  Additionally, a driver's attempt to hide that they're texting while driving by holding the phone lower only increases the danger!  Now they're looking even farther from where they should be looking.

We are lucky to live in such a technologically advanced age.  The solution to this problem might not be a legal one.  After all, alcohol hasn't changed much for thousands of years.  We cannot just invent an alcoholic beverage that makes driving under its influence any safer.  But just as hands free devices have improved driver safety while talking on the phone, there might soon be technology that addresses this concern (is there an app for that?).  But, it is that same technological advancement that puts us in such danger.

Laws are slowly becoming stricter.  Just looking at your phone while driving is now enough to get a conviction.  And while I am hopeful that we can solve this problem in a different way, I think that distracted driving laws will soon become much more severe than in the past.  Travel back in time to 1970 and see how many people believe that driving after two beers is likely to land you in jail.  Currently, fines for using a cell phone while driving are pretty low relative to other traffic infractions ($100 for cell phone ticket vs. $500 for a red light camera ticket!). 

Currently, first violations of VC§23123 (cell phone) and VC§23123.5 (texting) will not receive points.  The fine and driving record impact do , however, increase for repeat offenders.  Additionally, there are pilot programs, like the Phone in One Hand, Ticket in the Other movement aimed at exploring harsher penalties for these offenses.  If MADD gets involved, don't be surprised to eventually see these fines increase more than five fold.  Texting and driving could some day be a misdemeanor punishable by jail time and loss of license.  It's easy revenue for the government and would make driving safer.

Enforcing these laws has its obstacles, but most drivers are in plain view while driving.  The light from a phone at night, seeing a phone in a driver's hand and seeing a person look down repeatedly could all be used as evidence of distracted driving.  Moreover, phone records are easily available and could be used to demonstrate usage while driving.  Be safe.

IMPORTANT LINKS:
Los Angeles Superior Court  
Los Angeles Police Department

Best,

Nicholas M. Loncar, Esq. 
Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney
t: 213-375-3775 | f: 213-375-3099
Mobile: 323-803-4352 
[email protected]
1200 Wilshire Blvd | Suite 406
Los Angeles, CA | 90017
www.iDefendLosAngeles.com

By Nicholas Loncar