California Hands-Free Cell Phone Law + iPhone Google Reader

Yesterday the hands-free cell phone law went into effect in California.

Section 23123 of the vehicle code:

a person shall not drive a motor vehicle while using a wireless telephone unless that telephone is configured to allow hands free listening and talking, and is used in that manner while driving.

I'll admit it. I'm one of those guys. I'm constantly on the phone when I'm driving.

I have a love-hate relationship with cell phones. It seemed like I was one of the last people on the planet to get a cell phone. That was in 2001 or 2002. I resisted for the longest time because I felt a certain sense of freedom not being connected 24/7. My logic: if someone wants to reach me, they can call my house phone and leave a message. How old does that sound?

I finally broke down. I decided to get a cell phone to receive calls but not dial out. Phones are everywhere, right? I would use it just for emergencies. Yeah, right.

The gadget geek in me wanted one. I woke up early on Black Friday and got whatever the newest silver Motorola phone was. Then the RAZR hit. Had to have it. Then the Treo. Then the iPhone. It's a disease.

Somehow I ended up carrying two cell phones. I've got the iPhone for fun and a blackberry for business. It's garbage. I use the blackberry over bluetooth with my car's hands-free speaker system. If I get a call on the iPhone, I have to put the phone to my ear because I don't think you can have two phones connected to the car's speaker system at the same time. Plus speakerphone on the iPhone isn't loud enough. I definitely need to lose the blackberry. When the iPhone works with exchange servers in a usable way for email, the blackberry will be toast.

While I'm driving, I'm not just talking. I'm reading, typing, texting, emailing... I'm bad. It's like my car is my office. LA traffic blows, so I pass the time cranking CDs, surround DVD-A discs or XM radio and reading email and surfing my favorite blog and music news sites.

I use Google Reader to keep track of RSS feeds and the Google Reader iPhone interface to read when I'm on the go. I have it saved as a button on the iphone's home screen. I scan the headlines and click on the interesting articles. I can save good ones for later by choosing Keep Unread or giving it a yellow star. Tapping the Share button puts it on my Califaudio Google Reader page and in the Link Load widget you can find on the lower right-hand column of this blog. Yes, I update my blog while I'm driving!

For now, only putting the phone to your ear is banned while driving. Texting and typing are legal because of the wording of the law, but some local police agencies say they will fine drivers for doing those as well. A newer bill that would include text messaging was introduced last week by the same legislator who wrote the hands-free bill. The current law imposes a fine of $20 for a first-time offense and $50 for each additional offense. Is that really going to stop people from using the phone while on the road?

I've done all kinds of crazy things while driving that are much more dangerous than talking on the phone. I'll spare you all the gory details, but I will say that plugging a circuit bent Speak & Spell into the car's stereo system can be a ton of fun.

The dangers of being distracted while driving are obvious. Don't end up like this on a Friday night... or worse!