A Press Democrat Blog

Road Warrior

Trying to make sense out of getting around

No GPS, no music unless they’re hands-free

Wednesday, at 6:17 by

Update: Read Paul Payne’s follow-up story about the court ruling here. If you’re using your cell phone to get directions or play music while you’re driving, you’re breaking the law. That’s the ruling released Monday by a Fresno County appeals court. After considering People v. Spriggs, the three-judge Superior Court panel ruled that California’s 2008 law banning use of cell phones while driving applies to anything that requires drivers to use their hands. The court’s ruling states: “Our review of… Read More »

Staking out intersections, looking for violators

Friday, at 5:30 by

Santa Rosa Police Officer Jeff Adams waited on his motorcycle, tucked in an out-of-the-way spot, as he watched traffic go by at Santa Rosa Avenue and Third Street. The intersection this week is getting extra attention from the city’s motorcycle officers because it’s one of a couple of dozen intersections that last year were rated as the most dangerous because they had the most accidents. Santa Rosa at Third was tied for seventh worst with nine collisions. For Adams, he… Read More »

Cell companies may help stop illegal use while driving

Friday, at 1:57 by

With so many drivers ignoring the cell phone law, some cell phone companies are devising technology to help. The technology would detect when a cell phone was in a car and would temporarily interrupt service. The New York Times reported today that T-Mobile this week announced a service that, for $4.99 a month, automatically disables rings and alerts and sends calls to voice mail when the phone is in a moving car. Sprint Nextel, AT&T and Verizon also are looking… Read More »

Ever wonder what they’re talking about

Thursday, at 12:43 by

For me, the cell phone law for drivers makes people watching even more interesting. The other day I was at a red light downtown and noticed the woman in the brown minivan next to me waving her hands. She clearly was deep in a heated conversation, gesturing and apparently yelling. I wondered who she was talking to — her kids, her husband, her ex? What were they talking about that was making her so agitated. And sometimes I see a… Read More »

10 holiday wishes for drivers

Tuesday, at 6:00 by

Here’s my Christmas wish list for all of us who drive: 1. That everyone always use their blinkers when switching lanes or turning. Besides being the law, it’s just plain nice to give me some warning before you suddenly move into my lane. 2. That Caltrans finally raises the speed limit on Highway 101 between Santa Rosa and Windsor back to 65. It seems that nearly everyone is doing it already, so why wait. (UPDATE: This wish was granted today… Read More »

Biggest safety problems: Speeding, cell phones

Friday, at 6:00 by

What’s the biggest safety problem on California’s road? Speeding and aggressive driving, according to a survey of drivers by the state Office of Traffic Safety. What’s the most serious distraction for drivers? Cell phone conversation, whether handheld or hands free, by far was No. 1 at 59.5 percent. Despite that distraction, 42.6 percent of the 1,671 drivers age 18 and over who were surveyed said they talked on a hands-free cell phone regularly or sometimes in the previous 30 days.… Read More »

So you think you can avoid the cell phone law

Tuesday, at 10:30 by

California drivers are a creative bunch, especially it seems when they’re trying to ignore the hands-free cell phone law. You see some drivers holding their cell phone in their right hand, rather than their left, perhaps hoping that a passing police officer won’t see it. Some hold the phone several inches away from their head, as if the distance makes it legal. Some women tuck their phone under their hair to try to hide it. Some drivers hold their phone… Read More »

Santa Rosa CHP gives 29 cell phone tickets in crackdown

Thursday, at 3:50 by

CHP officers out of the Santa Rosa office wrote 29 tickets for cell phone violations during Wednesday’s crackdown on drivers, while CHP and other police agencies across the Bay Area issued a whopping more than 1,600 citations. On Aug. 10 — the first day of the two-day crackdown –local officers wrote nine tickets. CHP Officer Jon Sloat said local CHP officers typically hand out about 100 cell phone tickets a month, or about 3.3 a day. Across the Bay Area… Read More »

Cell phone crackdown again today

Wednesday, at 6:15 by

The CHP and some Bay Area police departments are participating today in a second crackdown on drivers who illegally use cell phones. The law requiring drivers to go hands-free when using cell phones easily is one of the most ignored laws in the state. Plus holding a cell phone while driving, like any other distraction, is unsafe. Thus the crackdown. The first day of the crackdown was Tuesday the 10th when CHP officers were told to be extra vigilant for… Read More »

Tougher cell phone bill dies in Assembly

Tuesday, at 7:00 by

A state senator has failed in his effort to require bicyclists to stop using hand-held cell phones and to double fines for motorists who don’t go hands-free. Legislation by state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, passed the state Senate in June but it got bottled up in the Assembly Appropriations Committee and was killed Thursday. That action came just days after a Bay Area crackdown by the CHP on drivers illegally using cell phones. Simitian told the Sacramento Bee he… Read More »