Keep your hands on the wheel, not on your cell phone, would be the law under SB2, a bill filed by Mike Lenett, D-Montgomery. The bill would require use of hands-free devices such as headsets or speakerphones to talk on the phone while driving.
There have been several previous failed attempts to ban use of cell phones completely while driving, although this now applies to those under
18.
Lenett said with all the hands-free devices on the market for mobile phones, requiring their use “shouldn?t be much of an imposition on people.”
There have been other efforts for broader bans on “distracted driving,” but “the definition of distracted driving is too vague,” Lenett said.
Lenett?s legislation would not assess points on a driver?s license for first offenses, and it would permit judges to waive the $100 fine or waive the penalty if the violator can prove he or she has purchased a hands-free device.
Internet sex offenders
Sen. Bobby Zirkin, D-Baltimore County, and a bipartisan list of 11 conservative and liberal co-sponsors, introduced legislation on Friday that would add a requirement to the sex offender registry mandating those convicted and released to list all their Internet names or nicknames.
“It will not be foolproof by any stretch of the imagination,” Zirkin said, because some offenders may not comply. “It will be just another tool” to help law enforcement track down pedophiles and others who prey on the young.
Zirkin said the bill was inspired by the “Dateline NBC” show “To Catch a Predator,” an undercover sting operation designed to catch child-sex abusers who entice minors over the Internet.
“My wife and I watched this show with horror,” Zirkin said.
The law now requires sex offenders to provide their addresses, employment, descriptions and other identifying information. The legislation would add “current or former aliases, names, nicknames, chat room identities, computer log-in or screen names, Internet identities and instant-messaging identities.”
