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California Texting While Driving Ban Takes Effect. Happy New Year!

California Texting While Driving Ban Takes Effect. Happy New Year!
With the ringing in of the new year, California became the latest state to ban texting while driving, joining the likes of New Jersey and Tennessee. California already passed a ban on teens texting and driving back in August, but now the law has been extended to all drivers regardless of age.

So what exactly is banned under the new law? Any manual communication while operating a motor vehicle is illegal. That means no sending or reading text messages, IMs, or e-mail while driving. And make sure you hit that send button before you start moving -- if you draft an e-mail while parked, but wait to hit send till you're already moving, you are in violation of the law. This ban also extends to browsing the Internet or watching television.

There are no exceptions or technicalities to get you out of this one. Touch screen or QWERTY keyboards won't make a difference. Neither will a red light or traffic jam. If you're in the driver's seat in a lane of traffic tapping out a message, you'll get slapped with a $20 fine for your first infraction, and $50 for each subsequent violation.

Hit the read link for even more answers to questions about the new ban. [From: LA Times]

Tags: ban, CA, California, law, sms, text messaging, texting, texting while driving, TextingWhileDriving, TextMessaging

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