If you have a phone that can text or email by voice, next year you’ll be able to use it in your car legally – as long as your finger never touches the device.
California Governor Jerry Brown signed the “Freedom to Communicate” bill, which adds an exception to the anti-texting law. It states that devices "specifically designed and configured to allow voice-operated and hands-free operation to dictate, send, or listen to a text-based communication" are allowed for use behind the wheel. The law is set to go into effect January 1, 2013.
Under the new law, drivers using dictation or reading software can send texts using a Bluetooth headpiece or an in-car system that integrates with the phone. But the bottom line is that your paws must not touch the phone.
This is the first exception to the no-texting-while-driving law that was enacted three years ago.
The bill's author, Assemblyman Jeff Miller (R-Orange County), said in a statement issued when the bill went to the governor's desk, that, "I can relate to the frustration of many Californians who were unable to communicate with friends, family and business partners while driving because it is currently against the law to operate text-based functions while driving."
And as you'd expect, the bill got some backing from the auto industry.
The exact definition of which devices the law allows is unclear. According to the bill, the iPhone 4S, for example, might be excluded because users must activate Siri by removing their hands from the wheel. Turning on a device, too, can violate the law. "The phone can't be in your hands," said CHP spokeswoman Jaime Coffee. "Hands-free is the key."
Skip past the break to read the text of the bill, in all its glorious ambiguity:
