CHAPEL HILL -- Talking on a cell phone while driving in Chapel Hill becomes illegal June 1.
The town became the first in the nation to pass an ordinance outlawing talking on both hand-held and hands-free cell phones while driving. After two years of discussion on the issue, the council voted 5-4 Monday night.
but
The ordinance applies to all streets town-wide, including state-owned roads. Drivers would be allowed to make emergency calls, and calls with a spouse, parent or child. Violators will be fined $25.
and the kicker
“If you have a Bluetooth, if you have a relatively new car with a dashboard that allows you to talk wirelessly, you can’t use it,” she said.
good, stupid twats and douchebags texting all the damn time not paying attention to jack shit. Shit makes me fucking rage when i see people swerving all the god damn road and then i pass them and their fucking heads are looking down. if you text and drive you’re dumb and you should stop it.
talking on the phone for a minute or 2 on surface roads is ok as long as you can pay attention to both, but most people are fucking retarded and forget they are driving a car. it’s also hard to do while driving stick shift. i usually will set the cruise and talk on the highway when not in traffic and that’s pretty safe, but i don’t do it often.
i used to live 5 minutes from chapel hill… honestly, its a bunch of yahoos and idiots there for the most part along with a TON of college students (UNC chapel hill, Duke university, NC State right down the road, etc…)… i see this as nothing more than another stream of revenue for the city if the law sticks… in all reality though, it contradicts NC state law and will most likely be overturned very soon
Not sure about the state law, but unless the law specifically states it IS legal to talk w/ hands-free devices and what not, then Chapel Hill’s law is perfectly fine. Laws from lower branches of government cannot contradict higher forms, but they CAN “compliment” them and add to them.
hmm… that may be true. according to how i interpret the below, there is no specific legislation on the state level prohibiting or allowing hands free devices, only that other features of the phone may not be used… this new legislation in chapel hill will only be enforceable as a secondary offence as well so the chances of it really changing anything are slim, but it is still a step in the wrong direction in my opinion… either way, i feel like the law is asinine and unwarranted
LOL at them calling a hand free headset " a bluetooth"
Bluetooth is a standardized wireless data transfer protocol not a physical device. hahah.
The law initially started as a secondary offense VT&L. Meaning you crash into a ditch becasue you cant talk and drive… you get the failure to stay right AND the cell phone ticket. You rear end someone in traffic talking on the phone you get driving too close, AND the cell phone ticket.
Fines are there to penalize the failures in society for their actions, aka breaking laws. The fine line between putting a law out there to PREVENT accidents, injury, property damage, etc… and putting a law out there to PENALIZE the mistakes that people make in public that cause accidents, injury, property damage, etc… is a fine line. Often influenced one way or another based on politics and whose hands are in the cookie jar, its sad.
Make it a secondary offense again, and enforce it as such. hell make it a 6 point 1,000$ fine for all I care… if I hit someone talking on the phone not paying attention… Ill pay the price. I shouldnt be held down by dumber people around me, when I need to call parts in on my ride to the shop to save time money and resources for example.
based on what? every state ive ever been to has people who cant drive for shit… if you think that drivers from NC specifically can’t drive, you’re fucking retarded
This reminds me of the “Feet Up On the Subway Law.” It’s another completely ridiculous and unenforcable law that everyone will break. It’s nothing more than another revenue stream for government. If you get caught you’ll get your ticket and be tweeting about that ticket within two miles.
I don’t know about NC…but my fiance is from Harrisonburg, VA and trust me…when I drive in that state, I want to kill myself.
People in that state have not heard of the concept ‘pass left’. They constantly sit in the left lane for no reason doing the speed limit. I have been to MANY MANY MANY states and this is the only one who has this propensity for left lane crawling.
I’ve tailgated on purpose, flashing highs, honking, etc. f’in with people and they STILL don’t move.
I lived in Wilmington, NC, and been through the Triangle, and those people are some of the worst fucking drivers of all time. They try to act like NYC drivers, but can’t grasp how to do that, so they crash into each other.