New 2010 IL laws regarding cell phone use while driving

 

A new year usually brings new laws with it and that is the case in IL. If you drive in IL, you should be aware of 2 new laws that become effective Jan 1, 2010 prohibiting texting while driving and cell phone use in certain situations while driving.

  • Effective January 1, 2010, a new law will make it illegal to use a cell phone, personal digital assistant (PDA) or portable computer to compose, send or read messages or access the Internet while driving.
  • Another new law effective January 1, 2010, prohibits cell phone use entirely within a school speed zone, construction zone or if the driver is under the age of 19 years.

Additional details can be found in links here: http://www.dot.il.gov/texting.asp

Newspaper story on it: http://www.connecttristates.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=3958...

Reminder - Chicago has had a hands-free ordinance since July 2005 http://www.drivinglaws.org/chicago.php

New Hampshire and Oregon are enacting similar laws on no texting while driving to make a total of 19 with texting restrictions. 6 states prohibit holding cell-phones while driving. A summary of state laws on cell phone usage while driving can be found here: http://www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/cellphone_laws.html

Best bets for "safe" driving with a cell phone and avoiding revenue donations to communities or states:

  1. Don't use the phone at all while driving.
  2. Let a passenger deal with the phone.
  3. Pull to the side of the road and park to use the phone.
  4. Use a hands-free device.

Best wishes for a safe and happy new year to all.

--
Nuvi 350

sick of all these laws

sick of all these laws telling us what to do.

--
DriveSmart 50, DriveSmart 60, nuvi 2595, nuvi 3760,

Speeding

Georgia is cracking down on speeding.

http://www.safespeedsgeorgia.org/

--
Garmin nuvi 2455LMT (wife uses nuvi 255w) (sold C330)

.

nansoutey wrote:

sick of all these laws telling us what to do.

When people don't self-regulate, the government will do it for you.

--
nüvi 3790T | Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, will make violent revolution inevitable ~ JFK

The only problem with the

The only problem with the Chicago ordinance is it only applies to the city, and you are expected to somehow have psychic powers and know it's on the books-not like there are signs posted as you enter town or anything. I actually make it a point when I go to Ohio every year to enquire about things like this, just in case.

Hands-free

Because I don't always have my bluetooth GPS in the car, I bought a Motorola T305 from Amazon to solve the hands-free problem. So far it has worked really well.

--
Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong.

Option!!!

nansoutey wrote:

sick of all these laws telling us what to do.

Sorry and no ill feelings but that's why this country is so great....you always have the option to leave it or move to other states and live elsewhere.

--
Bobby....Garmin 2450LM

Ontario

Ontario, Canada has banned cell phone or the use of Entertainment Devices that was effective, the end of October.

You must have a Hands Free to use the cell and definitely no texting. I drive a shuttle and you can pick off the Boneheads that are texting. They're the ones that are weaving on the road, speeding up and slowing down and taking their eyes off the road to look down at the screen.

VERY DANGEROUS!!!

I've even disciplined myself to keep away from typing in a GPS address, unless I'm stopped.

--
DriveSmart 65, NUVI2555LMT, (NUVI350 is Now Retired)

Using cell phone when driving is dangerous but....

now a day there are so many laws pass that the intention is to make money.

Why Not??

I'm all for the regulating bodies collecting money because people insist on not using common sense!!

Laws that attempt to help people that are "common sense challenged" might just help make it safer for myself and my family while we are on the road.....and if they make money at the same time...even better!

Just my observation.

This will be abused in Illinois

Every major road in Illinois is "always" under constant construction required to pay off asphalt bosses as well as the general crappiness of the roads as is.

Sick covers it!

So was the guy who wrecked a Los Angeles train killing scores. Why because he was texting his ToyBoy instead of heads up while driving the train.

On a serious note, what is sickening for me is that there is a need to even address the issue. What are people thinking who would place their own life in such jeopardy much less mine too.

I wonder...

I wonder if someday red-light and speed-camara enforcement locations will become so numerous that GPS databases that alert the driver to the cameras' locations will be outlawed as "distractions".

Cell Phone Laws

After experiencing several near misses caused by drivers paying more attention to the cell phone glued to their ear than their driving, I am all for prohibiting cell phone use while behind the wheel. Here in Maryland the lawmakers fell short when they enacted a law banning texting while driving without probiting phoning. I guess the unsafe driver coalition has some power over the Maryland legislature.

I was vacationing in Hawaii last summer when that state's ban against hands-on phoning while driving went into effect on July 1st. Where was plenty of advance notice posted on roads and broadcast on TV and Radio, including the announcement that "there will be no warnings." Well, the evening news on July 1st reported that 37 tickets (I think that was the number) had been issued on the first day to folks who insisted on phoning while driving -- and five were warnings! Whether the fact that all five warnings were issued in Kailua had anything to do with it or not, I don't know.
This is not a matter of the government telling us how to live our lives. Unlike many red-light and speed cameras, which are more money-driven than safety-driven, banning cell phone use while driving is an important step toward improving highway safety.

--
JD

The next law might be.

Young women with children in the car prohibited from using cell phones while driving. In my little town, they seem to be a bigger menace than the teenagers.

--
1490LMT 1450LMT 295w

Exceptions To The Law..!

Even though I agree on the safety factor, there will ALWAYS be circumstances or situations that occur with "red light running, speeding and cell phone use while driving" that shouldn't EVER lead to a ticket. I, myself, have been in some of those situations.

Nuvi1300WTGPS

Nuvi1300WTGPS@Gmail.com

--
I'm not really lost.... just temporarily misplaced!

Lucky that I just got a

Lucky that I just got a bluetooth headset for X-mas razz

Menacing

spokybob wrote:

Young women with children in the car prohibited from using cell phones while driving. In my little town, they seem to be a bigger menace than the teenagers.

Maybe so...

Laws

These laws are all out of control. How do they plan on enforcing them?
This just reeks of possible abuse by law enfourcment. So what next we can't use or GPS While driving. DON'T HIT THAT TRAFFIC RE ROUTE BUTTON! Or you can possibly be breaking the law.

your anger is misdirected

lupo wrote:

These laws are all out of control. How do they plan on enforcing them?
This just reeks of possible abuse by law enfourcment. So what next we can't use or GPS While driving. DON'T HIT THAT TRAFFIC RE ROUTE BUTTON! Or you can possibly be breaking the law.

If the legislatures didn't put the law on the books, then there could be no enforcement. Direct your anger at the writer rather than the messenger.

--
ɐ‾nsǝɹ Just one click away from the end of the Internet

Laws

GO GET THEM.....

--
Bobby....Garmin 2450LM

Laws

My discontent isn't directed at any of you. It is with our law makers. I don't understand why a person just because he is elected feels compeled to purpose laws just for the sake of doing so. And we as a populous just sit by because we are so consumed with everything else that is urgent in our lives. They just did a show on how red light cameras are increasing accidents. I sure some one on this forum touched on it. But I still see them popping up like a virus. City officials blinded by the once all mighty dollar ignorant to the risk posed to it's citizens.
Anyway. Sorry for the downer message. I getting down from the box now.

my comment wasn't directed at you personally

lupo wrote:

My discontent isn't directed at any of you. It is with our law makers. I don't understand why a person just because he is elected feels compeled to purpose laws just for the sake of doing so. And we as a populous just sit by because we are so consumed with everything else that is urgent in our lives. They just did a show on how red light cameras are increasing accidents. I sure some one on this forum touched on it. But I still see them popping up like a virus. City officials blinded by the once all mighty dollar ignorant to the risk posed to it's citizens.
Anyway. Sorry for the downer message. I getting down from the box now.

It was taking aim at your statement about law enforcement being the cause of your discontent. You are right, it is the search for funds that is behind many of these new laws we are seeing, that and the pervasive feeling that someone else is to blame for our own stupid actions. It seems more people are quick to try to point the finger at someone else rather than take the responsibility for their actions.

--
ɐ‾nsǝɹ Just one click away from the end of the Internet

Agree...Some Laws are

monitarily based. The real problem is not with the Law Makers or Law Enforecement.....they are both used as a scape goat by the real offenders.....parents!

If parents today would just spend a little time teaching their children the difference between "want" & "need" things would be a lot better. The other problem is that children, and many adults today.....do not understand the simple concepts of respect and responsibility. These teachings are not being addressed in the home.....they have been passed on to teachers and others.

I have worked with youth programs for 30+ years and have watched this unfortunate change occur....I also experience it from stories our daughter shares with us.....a Second Grade Teacher.

Okay....I'm done....and of course these are just my observations.

Laws

Agreed but I see the problem stemming from taxes And the law makers. Today's age requires alot of familys to have bothe parents working. Have you ever calculate just how much you pay in taxes on every dollar you make? We as a country cut ties with mother England over taxes and then we put officiL into office who do the same to us.
Ok the is getting to deep for me. Let's change the topic.

Common sense people...common

Common sense people...common sense.

How Common

nextohel wrote:

Common sense people...common sense.

In Iran it is "common sense" for a woman to wear her hijab!

I am not much of one for "common sense".

It is too....common.

Common sence

We need more laws not common sence. Hehe (evil smirk)

Cash Cow Laws

The mayor of an nearby town was considering adding a red light camera. He referred to the intersection he was looking at as a cash cow. His quote from the newspaper interview was:

"Thinking I knew where Batavia's cash cow was, I went out to the intersection and witnessed 43 right-turn-on-red violations," the mayor said.

There was not a single safety-related statistic or quote in his interview.

Doesn't Congress have better laws to work on than this?

‘College Football Playoff Act of 2009’
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2009/12/bcs-becomes-politica...

Why does everyone feel that there needs to be a lawsuit or law passed to correct a perceived "problem". I don't want my gov't representatives (that I pay for) to waste their time on stupid things like this that don't solve any of our countries real problems.

Agreed that red light cameras are more than likely becoming a revenue source for gov't than for safety but maybe that is good - what's the alternative - higher taxes? I'll stick with the cameras given those 2 choices and let those that break the law provide the revenue rather than getting locked into a tax increase.

--
Nuvi 350

Risk in channeling every available revenue stream to Government.

msaskis wrote:

what's the alternative - higher taxes? I'll stick with the cameras given those 2 choices and let those that break the law provide the revenue rather than getting locked into a tax increase.

Actually, the alternative is to stop the creeping of Government. Government seeks more money for it's own sake - then when it has more money, it creates a new job for itself.

Nearly %15 of all workers are employees of various bodies of Government in the US. Another very large percent of private workers are employed directly by Government. I wouldn't be surprised if 1 out of every 4 workers were direct or indirect Government employees.

There are 15.6 million state and local employees.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/…

There are 1.8 million federal civilian employees, excluding post office.
http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg/cgs041.htm

1.4 million uniformed members of the military.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Us_military

600,000 postal employees.
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos141.htm#emply

That's 19.4 million people employed by government.

There are 146 million in the workforce
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.n…

--
17

Ridiculous!

"Another new law effective January 1, 2010, prohibits cell phone use entirely within a school speed zone, construction zone or if the driver is under the age of 19 years."

Right, because my 85 year old grandfather is such a better driver than my 18 year old cousin....

Ridiculous!

Inattentive driving

What's wrong is that there is already a law in every state that makes inattentive driving a moving offense. The trouble is that its vague and easy for even a half rate lawyer to get dropped in court as hard to prove. So laws have to be passed that are more specific. That coupled with the lack of accountability these days makes it almost a necessity to spell things out in black and white. I'm not saying I agree with that approach, just stating why it is.

--
Chuck - Nuvi 200, Nuvi 255W

Doh!

Double post.

Nothing to see here. Move along. Move along...

--
Chuck - Nuvi 200, Nuvi 255W

There are already laws

governing reckless driving. If cell phone use, (or radio/cd player use, gps use, fast food use, children in the back seat or any of a million possible distractions) is causing someone to drive recklessly, they can be ticketed under existing laws. How about enforcing existing laws before piling on with more and more laws & regulations?

Speaker option?

I usually just use the speaker option and leave it on the dash. My wired headset is always in the glove box and I still haven't bought a bluetooth yet. The crazy stuff happens when people text while driving, using one hand to hold a phone isn't really a big issue anyways.

--
-CorollaBoy

Decency and common sense

Decency and common sense would seem to be an answer to a lot of the problems we face every day. Problem is that there seems to be less and less of it ever day. I am amazed at the stories I read about things people do seemingly without thinking.

--
John B - Garmin 765T

Ill cell phonechages

We need a link to update all state laws on cell usgae and GPS

Oregon

...is the same, although using hands-free devices is allowed. In my opinion, it's for the better.

--
Michael (Nuvi 2639LMT)

Laws

The fact of the matter is with every new law they pass we loose or libertys. And they have gotten away with it for so long we all have become passive about it. We just all get herded around like sheeple. Who so these laws benefit really? The people or the governments bottom line? We all know the answer too that one. If you don't take a look at your next pay stub.

Laws

I thought you were getting off the box. Get a blue tooth headset and you won't have to worry. I have one and it works great. Anyone that can afford a cell phone and phone plan I am sure can afford a one time pay for a blue tooth headset.

--
Bobby....Garmin 2450LM

Unnecessary

If somebody is in fact texting while driving, I find it hard to believe that an officer can't find something to pull them over for anyway. If by chance it doesn't cause the driver to break some other law, then the driver has impressive multitasking skills and is clearly capable of doing both at the same time.

This law is unnecessary and is yet another law in which police officers will invariably lie, make a mistake, or otherwise misrepresent the truth at the expense of honest citizens. (Forgive my bias, I drive in Chicago and the northern suburbs on a regular basis - that's how a vast majority of cops that I see behave)

The day...

The day I'm out and about on the road and I see a law enforcement officer not on there cell phone while on duty, is the day I'll believe they're taking this law seriously.

Washington State

Here is an interesting article from the Seattle times today. I hope the law is changed...Tired of people trying to text or dial on the cell phone while driving.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorials/2010746697_...

--
Bobby....Garmin 2450LM

Get GOS with Blutooth

Get GPS with Blutooth capability. I have TT Go 720. I have paired its blouetooth with phone. Now when I switch on TT, it gets connected to phone and I can use TT for dialing, receiving call etc handsfree. The voice quality is very good on both ends.

common sense is not COMMON!

IMHO

common sense is not COMMON!

Laws

To address you comments I have multiple blue tooths and my gps is capable as well. You have completely missed the point. It's not that I shouldn't , it's that I'm being "told" I "can't". But hey sit back and not be counted and soon you will get ticketd for playing with your radio.