Understanding Colorado's cell phone ban
I've been pouring over the text of Colorado's cell phone ban, House Bill 1094, to see what's allowed and what's not. I'm not a lawyer, by the way, so you can't take anything I say here as a legal opinion that would stand up in court. Here are the highlights from the act:
- 16 and 17 year olds are completely banned from the use of a wireless telephone. Nothing, zilch, nada.
- For those of us 18 and older, no "use [of] a wireless telephone for the purpose of engaging in text messaging or other similar forms of manual data entry or transmission while operating a motor vehicle." So, no texting, tweeting, email, facebook status posting or anything of the sort.
- The bill contains an exemption for use during a life-threatening emergency or to contact "a public safety entity" to report a crime or an accident, for example. This mostly applies to 16 and 17 years old, to permit calling 911 as 18s and over can call anyone.
- Operation is permitted while parked, but not while stopped at a light or stuck in traffic.
- The bill explicitly does not authorize seizure of your cell phone.
- The original bill, as introduced, also required the use of a hands free device for talking. This provision is not in the final draft.
- Interestingly, also gone in the final draft, are bans directed at operators of school buses and "motor vehicle carriers regulated by the public utilities commission".
