Tuesday, December 1, 2009

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".

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