US & World News

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Millions of California motorists had to put down their cell phones Tuesday as a new law took effect requiring hands-free devices for those behind the wheel.

Police in San Diego and in Oceanside were giving motorists a one-month grace period before beginning to issue citations but the California Highway Patrol and other agencies were ready to write tickets.

"No grace period. The law was passed a year-and-a-half ago," said CHP Officer Heather Hoglund, a spokeswoman in suburban Glendale. "There should be no reason why somebody didn't know that today was the day that they needed to be hands-free."

Electronic information signs along freeways have been warning drivers for weeks that cell phone restrictions were going into effect on July 1.

Hoglund and other police agencies had no immediate count of citations issued and noted that, as with other driving laws, officers have the discretion to issue warnings.

No special task force will be hunting down scofflaws, said Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. John Rueff of the East Los Angeles station.

"Are we actively seeking people with cell phones? No," he said. "It's like any new law ... it's going to be discretionary."

Still, Hoglund said she noticed a difference in motorists' behavior Tuesday.

"I did not see one person holding the phone," she said.

Lt. Rick Handfield, a spokesman for Irvine police, said even he had to adjust to the new law as someone who uses his cell phone constantly. His phone rang as he was driving Tuesday and his Bluetooth headset was in his office charging.

"I had to think, 'What am I going to do with this call?'" he said. "I think I did the right thing by sending it to voicemail, but I think there will be a learning curve. I do think it'll be a paradigm shift."

Don Nguyen, 28, of Costa Mesa, was ticketed on a freeway in Irvine. He told the Orange County Register he had a hands-free headset and only pulled out his cell phone to check on a presentation he was to make later in the day. "I dialed up the number, put it on speaker phone and put it down," said Nguyen, who planned to fight the ticket.

Motorists also were rushing to purchase hands-free devices.

Dewey Oates, who owns two Los Angeles roadside stands that sell phone accessories, said for the past week he has sold 50 to 75 Bluetooth wireless headsets a day as many of the $40 devices as he usually sells in a year, not to mention hundreds of cheaper, plug-in devices.

"The first thing that they ask (is), 'I need something that's gonna help me abide by the law,'" he said.

"From a business point of view, yes, and from a safety point of view, we enjoy it," Oates said.

He's a believer in their value.

"I've had a friend who crashed two of his Lincolns by having conversations on the phone," he said. "It'll help him and it'll help other people."

The law requires use of a hands-free device by drivers over 18 except in a medical or traffic emergency. Text-messaging is not specifically banned for adults, but the California Highway Patrol said they can be cited for negligence under existing laws.

A second law that took effect Tuesday bars drivers under age 18 from using a wireless telephone, pager, laptop or any other electronic communication or mobile service device while driving. The ban extends to hands-free usage and text-messaging.

The laws carry a minimum fine of $20 for the first ticket and $50 for subsequent ones but with court fees tacked on the real cost in Los Angeles County will run about $93 for the first ticket and $201 for the next, according to Superior Court calculations.

While five other states and Washington, D.C., have adopted hands-free laws, the law in California could put a dent in the state's image as the capital of car-crazy narcissism. California has nearly 22.9 million licensed drivers, far more than any other state, according to 2005 statistics from the Federal Highway Administration.

The other states are Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Utah and Washington. New Jersey and Washington also ban text-messaging in cars.

Authorities hope it also will reduce traffic accidents. Several studies have shown that using cell phones distract drivers and may increase accidents, although there is scant evidence that using a hands-free device mitigates the problem.

New York, the first state to enact a hands-free law in 2001, reported 1,170 crashes from 2001 through 2006 where handheld cell phones were considered a factor, versus 214 involving hands-free devices, according to the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

Hoglund, of the CHP, has seen people weaving in lanes, speeding or suddenly slowing and thought they were drunk. But when she pulled them over, the drivers acknowledged they were on cell phones, she said.

Forcing motorists to use hands-free devices won't eliminate the distraction of an engrossing conversation or heated argument but it might reduce fender-benders by forcing drivers to keep at least one hand on the wheel, she said.

At least with a hands-free cell phone, "when you're drinking your coffee and on the phone and smoking a cigarette, you're not driving with your knee any more," she said.

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