DOT Bans Cellphones
Posted on December 20, 2011
Filed Under GENERAL, IN THE NEWS
Sometimes I go months without anything to say on this blog. Then, there are times like now, when I can’t find the time to say everything I have to say on the blog. At any rate, let’s start with DOT’s cellphone ban. You knew it was coming, and now it’s here. It’s important, because it very well may affect you, the average driver, so you need to know it’s there. It becomes effective on January 3, 2012.
Using a hand-held cellphone is no longer allowed, if you are driving a truck with a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating of 10,001 lbs. in interstate commerce. You may not answer a phone call, unless you can do it by pressing only one button. You may not hold a cellphone to your ear and talk. You may not initiate a phone call, unless you can do it by pressing only one button.
Let’s stop there. I think it’s clear these are now prohibited actions. If you do want to use a cellphone while driving, you need hands-free technology, and it must be operable by only one button. I know there are headsets out there which allow you to talk without holding the phone to your ear. I’m also pretty sure there are devices, which enable you to dial the phone strictly by using your voice. I’m less sure about that, but my wife tells me there are, so there must be, because she’s always right.
It’s a little less clear what else might be prohibited. The rule seems to have allow activities on the smartphone which do not involve communication. For example, under the new definition of “texting”, it says “Texting does not include using a device capable of performing multiple functions (e.g., fleet management systems, dispatching devices, smart phones, citizens band radios, music players, etc.) for a purpose that is not otherwise prohibited in this part.”
Therefore, if I use my smartphone, while driving, to find my favorite Eric Clapton album, which I have hooked up through my speaker system, I believe that would be legal, if no other reason, it specifically says the words, “music players”.
If I use the phone to enter in an odometer reading, that is illegal. I know this, as the preamble of this rule says it is. However, if you reach into the glove box, and pull out a piece of paper, and physically write down your odometer reading, that is legal.
Using CB’s is still legal. However, using push-to-talk cellphones are not. I am not sure what the difference is, other than it was easy to define cellphones using a previous definition from the FCC regulations.
I think the real world answer is if a police officer sees you fiddling with your Iphone, or Droid while you’re driving, he’s going to write you a giant ticket and ask questions later.
Presently, this rule only applies if you are operating in interstate commerce. However, the Federal government forces the States to adopt similar, if not identical rules, by threatening to withhold Highway monies. Therefore, both the texting and the cellphone ban will apply nearly everywhere within a year or two, as the States adopt the new Federal rules.
This means it will apply to all of the various shapes and forms of commercial motor vehicles. Landscapers, dump trucks, utility vehicles, three quarter ton pickups pulling small trailers….. all will be prohibited from using a hand-held cellphone, regardless of whether their State has passed that kind of law or not.
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