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Old 05-03-2018, 08:38 AM
 
10,334 posts, read 11,331,839 times
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Georgia Governor Nathan Deal signed House Bill 673 into Georgia state law at Georgia Southern University on Wednesday while flanked by the family members of five Georgia Southern University nursing students who were killed when a truck driven by a guy who was texting while driving hit their vehicle from behind along with multiple other vehicles while they were stopped in traffic in a deadly multi-vehicle pile-up on Interstate 16 in South Georgia back in April 2015.

House Bill 673 bans the use of all mobile devices without a hands-free apparatus while driving.

Under the new law, it will be illegal for a motorist to hold a phone or other electronic device while they are driving. Texting, reading or writing emails and watching or making videos are all banned activities.

Motorists will be allowed to talk on the phone, but they’ll have to use a hands-free method to do so. They can also use GPS navigation, voice to text technology or touch their phone to end a call or to dial a phone number.

A motorist can listen to music stored on their cell phone or electronic device, but they would be barred from using online radio programs such as Spotify or Pandora in their vehicle.

Motorists who violate the law will be fined $50 for the first conviction and receive one point on their license. On the second conviction, the fine increases to $100 and two points on the license. After that, a conviction carries a $150 fine and three points on a license.

The five women who were tragically killed when their stopped vehicle was hit from behind by a texting truck driver were all from metro Atlanta.

House Bill 673 was introduced in the Georgia House of Representatives by state Representative John Carson of Marietta, and was carried through the Georgia Senate by state Senator P.K. Martin of Lawrenceville.

"Gov. Nathan Deal signs distracted driving bill into law" (Gwinnett Daily Post)
Gov. Nathan Deal signs distracted driving bill into law | State News | gwinnettdailypost.com

Last edited by Born 2 Roll; 05-03-2018 at 09:10 AM..
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Old 05-03-2018, 08:42 AM
 
221 posts, read 188,263 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by born 2 roll View Post
a motorist can listen to music stored on their cell phone or electronic device, but they would be barred from using online radio programs such as spotify or pandora in their vehicle.
wtf?
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Old 05-03-2018, 08:52 AM
 
Location: Kirkwood
23,726 posts, read 24,709,235 times
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Sorry to be pessimistic, but this law will change nothing. It's difficult to enforce and the cause of crashes will always be something other than distracted driving.
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Old 05-03-2018, 09:18 AM
 
190 posts, read 316,313 times
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Originally Posted by born 2 roll
a motorist can listen to music stored on their cell phone or electronic device, but they would be barred from using online radio programs such as spotify or pandora in their vehicle.


Quote:
Originally Posted by stoxdiamond View Post
wtf?
Yeah, I had the same reaction. I'm 1000% for this law, but what does using Pandora have to do with anything? Most vehicles connect to Pandora on the phone automatically these days.
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Old 05-03-2018, 09:20 AM
 
10,334 posts, read 11,331,839 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cqholt View Post
Sorry to be pessimistic, but this law will change nothing. It's difficult to enforce and the cause of crashes will always be something other than distracted driving.
Those are really good points.

Though, with "distracted driving" (looking at one's phone, texting, holding the phone to one's ear while talking on it, etc) appearing to play a role in so many vehicular collisions, including many that result in death like the aforementioned fatal multi-vehicular pile-up where five nursing students were killed when their vehicle was hit from behind by a 18-wheeler driven by a driver distracted while looking at his phone, a governing body like the State of Georgia was going to be bound to feel compelled to act in a significant way on the issue... Even if the action is just to attempt send a message to the motoring public about the clear dangers of "distracted driving."
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Old 05-03-2018, 09:26 AM
 
10,334 posts, read 11,331,839 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by skiime View Post
Originally Posted by born 2 roll
a motorist can listen to music stored on their cell phone or electronic device, but they would be barred from using online radio programs such as spotify or pandora in their vehicle.




Yeah, I had the same reaction. I'm 1000% for this law, but what does using Pandora have to do with anything? Most vehicles connect to Pandora on the phone automatically these days.
I guess that it is to attempt to deter people from looking at their phones for extended periods of time while driving.

The law allows for people to touch their phones to dial numbers, end phone calls and use GPS navigation while driving, but they don't want people doing much more than that with their phones while driving.

The key thing is that the law seems to allow the authorities to investigate and fine motorists on the back end for distracted driving if they suspect a driver was looking at his or her phone at the time of a collision.
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Old 05-03-2018, 09:30 AM
 
Location: Kirkwood
23,726 posts, read 24,709,235 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Born 2 Roll View Post
Those are really good points.

Though, with "distracted driving" (looking at one's phone, texting, holding the phone to one's ear while talking on it, etc) appearing to play a role in so many vehicular collisions, including many that result in death like the aforementioned fatal multi-vehicular pile-up where five nursing students were killed when their vehicle was hit from behind by a 18-wheeler driven by a driver distracted while looking at his phone, a governing body like the State of Georgia was going to be bound to feel compelled to act in a significant way on the issue... Even if the action is just to attempt send a message to the motoring public about the clear dangers of "distracted driving."
This new law will have 0 effect on distracted driving, just another tool for cops to pull over and harass minorities.
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Old 05-03-2018, 10:43 AM
 
4,684 posts, read 6,084,253 times
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If we have almost zero enforcement now and texting not legal, will we magically start seeing cops everywhere looking for people on their phones as a way to make revenue...I meant keep the roads safer?

I think accident may go up slightly as stubborn people will now be hiding their phones in their laps to text, but overall this bill should save more lives, even if it going to make many jurisdictions a ton of revenue in fines for holding phones.
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Old 05-03-2018, 10:47 AM
 
Location: SC
8,793 posts, read 8,100,793 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Born 2 Roll View Post
Georgia Governor Nathan Deal signed House Bill 673 into Georgia state law at Georgia Southern University on Wednesday while flanked by the family members of five Georgia Southern University nursing students who were killed when a truck driven by a guy who was texting while driving hit their vehicle from behind along with multiple other vehicles while they were stopped in traffic in a deadly multi-vehicle pile-up on Interstate 16 in South Georgia back in April 2015.

House Bill 673 bans the use of all mobile devices without a hands-free apparatus while driving.

Under the new law, it will be illegal for a motorist to hold a phone or other electronic device while they are driving. Texting, reading or writing emails and watching or making videos are all banned activities.

Motorists will be allowed to talk on the phone, but they’ll have to use a hands-free method to do so. They can also use GPS navigation, voice to text technology or touch their phone to end a call or to dial a phone number.

A motorist can listen to music stored on their cell phone or electronic device, but they would be barred from using online radio programs such as Spotify or Pandora in their vehicle.

Motorists who violate the law will be fined $50 for the first conviction and receive one point on their license. On the second conviction, the fine increases to $100 and two points on the license. After that, a conviction carries a $150 fine and three points on a license.

The five women who were tragically killed when their stopped vehicle was hit from behind by a texting truck driver were all from metro Atlanta.

House Bill 673 was introduced in the Georgia House of Representatives by state Representative John Carson of Marietta, and was carried through the Georgia Senate by state Senator P.K. Martin of Lawrenceville.

"Gov. Nathan Deal signs distracted driving bill into law" (Gwinnett Daily Post)
Gov. Nathan Deal signs distracted driving bill into law | State News | gwinnettdailypost.com
I don't see what is special about "Spotify" or any other music delivery service that would ban them if they are playing through a hands-free device, if it is hands free it seems to me to be pointless to ban it.

But I must say too that the last time I was going down I-75 from Dalton toward Atlanta, I passed a driver who was in the fast lane with a novel propped open on the steering wheel - why that isn't banned is another mystery.

I wonder - does this mean there is a provision in the law that says that if a cop demands it - you must turn over your phone so he can see if you were receiving "Pandora" or not?

What if you were listening to Pandora with your phone in your pocket and just didn't bother to turn it off when you got into your car?

Laws are always being created that miss the mark. It's as if the legislators really don't know what they are doing. It's like watching an episode of "Judge Judy" when she has to deal with some issue regarding technology - and almost always gets it wrong because she has absolutely no understanding of what the device is, what it does or how it works.

Last edited by blktoptrvl; 05-03-2018 at 10:57 AM..
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Old 05-03-2018, 10:48 AM
 
Location: Formerly Pleasanton Ca, now in Marietta Ga
10,292 posts, read 8,452,514 times
Reputation: 16549
Quote:
Originally Posted by cqholt View Post
This new law will have 0 effect on distracted driving, just another tool for cops to pull over and harass minorities.
I can't say I agree with the tool for pulling over minorities, but I agree the law may not do much. We had the same law in California and it did nothing.
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