Texting While Driving Could Cost You $251
All California drivers should know better than to text and drive, yet daily hundreds of drivers are pulled over for talking or texting on their cell phone while driving. A measure was signed by Governor Jerry Brown on July 14th stating that soon Americans will be able to use “hands-free” or Bluetooth devices to send text messages while driving, but actually typing on your phone is still considered against the law.
California lawmakers are very serious about the dangers of using cellular devices while driving and fines have greatly increased over the past two years due to people now abiding by the no hands on cell phone rules. Automakers and Smartphone makers have come up with an answer to the problem their customers face by creating various dictation devices that will allow drivers to send text messages, and emails while driving safely on the road.
The current prohibitions are:
- Adult Drivers banned from using cellular phones unless using a hands-free device
- Text messaging banned for all drivers
- Minors (16-18) prohibited from using cellular devices at all while driving
- School bus operators and transit bus drivers prohibited from using cellular phones while driving
Texting while drivingis not worth paying the ticket of $251 for the first offense and $372 for any additional offense. Each ticket is recorded in California State records as well and presented to your California auto insurance carriers. Eventually these tickets will count as points on your driving record and will cost you much more in yearly auto insurance premiums. Be safe when driving out there, no text message is worth that much money, or even worse a deadly accident.
