Big changes on the way for California drivers

A new law is aiming to crack down on people taking their eyes off the road. As of January 1, California drivers will no longer be able to hold their cell phones at all while behind the wheel.

“I actually kind of agree with the law because the phones are very distracting,” said driver Richard Hernandez. “Me being a teenager, I know a lot of my counterparts, they do use their phone while driving. It causes accidents and I’ve seen them cause accidents.”

Current law restricts drivers from making calls and texting, but there are loopholes. Drivers can still get away with being on social media, taking selfies and streaming video with their cell phones without being cited by law enforcement if pulled over.

“If you were saying you were maybe on your GPS, that would have been an exception because you weren’t texting or talking, but you had your phone in your hand,” said California Highway Patrol Officer Richard Ruben Gonzales.

Under AB 1785, anyone caught driving with phone in hand will face a $20 fine and then $50 for additional offenses. CHP hopes this will motivate drivers to pay more attention. They said distracted drivers take up a lot of their resources.

“It happens so often that we don’t have enough officers to be able to stop every single person that’s on their cell phone,” said Gonzales.

While the intention of the bill is to decrease fatalities and injuries, some drivers said using GPS or scrolling through Facebook is a habit that some will find too hard to break.

“Personally I do not think people are going to follow it, but I do have high hopes that people follow it,” said Hernandez.

The new law will let drivers take one swipe or tap on the phone, as long as it’s mounted on the windshield of the vehicle.