Friday, January 19, 2007

Cell phone ban for bicyclists


"I want to ride my bicycle." Photo by Thomas Hawk. Creative Commons Some Rights Reserved license.
New Jersey Assemblyman Jon Bramnick of Union City, NJ has introduced a bill to eliminate the latest menace endangering lives on our public roads: Cell phone wielding bicyclists! A legislative committee has approved a bill that would make it illegal for people to use a hand-held telephone while riding a bicycle on a public road. Hands-free devices would be allowed and lawbreakers would face fines ranging from $100 to $250.

In 2005, 17 people in New Jersey were killed in bicycle crashes. No word on if any of them were using a cell phone.

New Jersey already bans cell phone use while driving, although hands-free devices are excepted.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Scene: Bike ride in NJ. Two-up paceline. Guy rides up next to me.

He says "Hey, how ya doin'?"
I say "Fine, thanks, how 'bout you?"
He goes "Huh? Oh sorry, I wasn't talking to you, I'm on the phone."

That's whe I see the blue LED glowing in his ear.

Then I stuck my pump in his spokes. Just kidding about that last part.

Paul Tay said...

I once ran a red light while celling. Scared the SHIT outta me. Cellphone got deep-sixed.

Yep, bikini-clad blondes celling on bomber beach bikes definately should be CRIMINALIZED.

Anonymous said...

After a recent scare I've quit typing text messages on the go.

Anonymous said...

It's already a law!!!

The NJ Driving Manual from DMV (or whatever they are now) has always stated that bicyclists must obey all the traffic regulations that motorists have. This includes (in fact, it's on the very next page of the manual) not using cell phones while driving. So, it's already stated that cyclists cannot use cell phones while riding their bikes. Why would we need another law? Let's just enforce the ones we already have. Including the law that says that cyclists must travel on the same side of the road, in the same direction, as cars.