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RICHMOND
Virginia drivers can continue to talk on cell phones and skirt seat belt laws for at least another year.
A House subcommittee today killed bills that would have banned talking on a hand-held cell phone while driving and made not wearing a seat belt a primary offense. Currently, police can only issue citations for not wearing a seat belt if the driver is pulled over for another reason.
It also killed a bill to make talking on a cell phone while driving with a provisional license a primary offense.
The subcommittee voted in favor of a bill that would require anyone under the age of 18 to wear a seat belt in the rear seat of a vehicle. Currently, only those under 16 must wear seat belts in the rear seats.
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Big business
As usual, the GOP's are catering to the business interests at the expense of the people. The repair shops, tow drivers, etc. However, they seem to forget that this will increase insurance costs, as more people are taken to emergency rooms, and the insured will have to pay for their care. Cell phone users can and have hit pedestrians, motionless cars, trains, and other objects. Lack of seatbelts drives up insurance costs for all who must pay for the cost of emergency room service.
"Ain't nothin' to worry about", the guy said, as he talked to his broker while doing 70 down the pot-hole filled road with out a seatbelt. He sure looked handsome, laid out all nice in the coffin. Problem is, he took innocent people along with him.
There would be an easy fix to this
and that is insurance companies should add to policies that if you didn't wear a seatbelt or were talking on a cell phone during an accident it would immediately void the policy and all expenses would become the responsibility of the idiots who were driving without seatbelts and talking on the cell phones. A few bankruptcies later people would pay attention.
Seat belts and Cell phones
I can understand the seat belts but not the cell phones. plenty of people have trouble driving without worring about a cell phone.
after you finish commenting on here
After you finish commenting on here, how about calling or writing your elected official and telling them how you feel?
'Killed'.....
'Killed' is the operative word.
We're going to see much more of this as a result of these bills being 'killed'.
No, sorry
if you are paying attention to your driving and what's going on around you, you won't get killed or hurt. BTW, seat belts don't change the way you drive.
These are two different
These are two different notions. First I agree that cellphones, using hands performing certain tasks are certainly detrimental to one's driving abilities. But seat belts dont provide any negative impact on one's ability.
More Jobs On The Way
The VA House committee does not pass the seat belt, cell phone use law, but passes 70mph on Interstates, carrying guns in bars/restraunts, buy as many guns as you want. I guess this will greatly increase the job market for funeral directors and morticians.
Government
Any effort to strike down government power and prop up individual freedom is a positive in my mind. If you kill someone because you weren't paying attention to your driving, you get charged with manslaughter, but the nanny state mentality has to end. Talking on a cell phone or driving without a seatbelt should not be a crime.
Cell Phones
So the House doesn't think it's important enough to wear seatbelts, or use a hands free device, but it insists you better not use a radar detector? Who elected these people? Va. is the last remaining state to outlaw detectors. These legislators need to read the studies on distracted driving too. I feel really safe riding next to a 16 year old talking to her girlfriend on a cell phone while doing 55 mph.