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New laws / 2004: Eyes on the road -- not on the screen
As of Thursday, state law bars watching TV while driving.
By Alexa H. Bluth -- Bee Capitol Bureau
Published 2:15 a.m. PST Monday, December 29, 2003
If you are considering installing a video screen on your dashboard to watch your favorite morning show or catch a flick to break up the monotony of your commute, think again.
Beginning Thursday, a new state law will tighten restrictions on drivers who watch video and television screens while operating their vehicles.
With the explosion of high-tech gadgets and gizmos for vehicles, California lawmakers have overhauled an existing law to attempt to limit at least some distractions for drivers.
"You can drive your car, watch a movie, use your cell phone and play on a computer all at once," said Assemblywoman Sarah Reyes, D-Fresno, the bill's author. "The more distractions, the more accidents that occur."
The new measure, AB 301, tweaks a California law to reflect the rapid technological advances available to drivers.
The new bill bars drivers from operating televisions and video screens in their line of vision while the vehicle is moving but allows the use of mapping and some other devices.
"They don't want people out there driving and watching television, and they want to provide exceptions for law-abiding citizens who want to use their technology," said California Highway Patrol Officer Steve Kinoshita, who works in the agency's legislative unit.
One of the key changes in the law is to clarify that drivers can use dealer-installed and other navigational devices, such as Global Positioning Systems.
"I still wouldn't recommended driving and constantly looking at your GPS device," Kinoshita said. "My suggestion for added safety would be to exit the freeway and find a safe spot and figure out where you want to go."
Also allowed under the new law are visual displays that help drivers of large vehicles maneuver, screens with a device that locks it in the "off" position when the car is moving and screens in law enforcement and safety vehicles and school buses.
The new law also "shifts the burden of compliance from vehicle dealers and accessory retailers to the driver," Kinoshita said.
The penalty for violating the law will be an infraction or, in other words, a ticket, he said. Officials hope it will serve as a deterrent to "a dangerous behavior," Kinoshita said.
According to the bill, inattention was cited as a factor in 6,807 collisions in 2001 in the state, including 48 deaths.
Measures to ban the use of certain cellular phones by drivers and to create a violation for certain types of inattentive driving have failed in California.
For one national chain, Audio Express, video screens in vehicles have risen to about 20 percent of sales in the past two years from about 1.5 percent, said Eric Stauffacher, California regional manager.
Drivers primarily install screens that are visible to back-seat passengers to entertain children on road trips, he said.
But other drivers want screens on their dashboard or even on the steering wheel. And some of the nation's rich-and-famous trendsetters are purchasing souped-up vehicles full of video screens, including in the front seat.
"Realistically, it's a cool factor to have it up front," Stauffacher said. "Especially for younger guys, it's just because it's cool and is the latest thing for their car."
The most screens Stauffacher has installed in a vehicle in the Sacramento area is six, in a Ford Excursion. The sport-utility vehicle had screens in its visor, dash and one on each of four headrests, he said.
He said the company installs screens that are visible to the driver, but the screens are installed so they do not function when the car is in drive gear.
"We still sell it; they just can't watch it while driving," he said.
Stauffacher has a video screen in the center of his own dash, near the stereo and other controls. He said he can use it to play video games, watch movies or watch television when the car is not moving.
He also said though the installers inform customers about the law, he suspects some drivers go home and tinker with the system so they can watch it while driving.
"If they have any basic knowledge of installation, they can do it themselves," he said. "And that's what they are doing."
My only question is what about cops? they have a laptop in the middle of the front of their cop cars, now they are above the law? Or if they have to follow this law and they can't have the laptops there anymore, then that could make more difficult for them to do their job, right?
John
koemoejoe
independentm...
W-B
