In addition to the recent bill increasing the maximum speed on VA interstates to 70, two other potentially high-impact bills are set to change Virginia motorways.
The first has already passed the Senate, and will enact a ban on holding cellphones while driving. The new law will will penalize drivers who insist on holding the device while the vehicle is in motion, as opposed to utilizing a hands free device. The financial hand slap will go into effect July 1st, and range from $20 for a first offense, to $50 for subsequent violations. This punishment will to a full fledged beating on July 1, 2011, from $100 (1st) to $200 (subsequent).
The second bill seeks to restore a nationwide right, which only Virginia & the District of Columbia still insist upon disregarding. The new legislature moves to strike the current ban on radar/laser detectors, and has already passed the transportation committee, on it’s way to the Senate. [Photo Credits]
Remember when 2/3rds of you admitted to texting while driving? The Virginia senate just passed an age-profiling (for better or worse) bill which would allow police to pull over drivers with provisional licenses, aka teenagers, for talking on the cellphone. The idea has some merit and according to WTOP:
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Virginia Tech Transportation Institute recently studied 100 drivers for a year to see what caused accidents. The research found that nearly 80 percent of crashes and 65 percent of the near-crashes happened because the driver wasn’t paying attention within 3 seconds of impact.
Even more telling are statistics from the National Safety Council which showed that cell phone use at the wheel contributes to 6 percent of crashes a year — that equals 636,000 accidents, 330,000 injuries, 12,000 serious injuries and 2,600 deaths a year.
The bill still has a long way to go, but interesting from a personal rights and safety standpoint.
We are hearing about big problems with AT&T service in Central Virginia. Users are experiencing dropped calls, lack of outgoing texts amongst many other problems.
These problems started yesterday evening at the latest and still no updates on when the problem will be fixed.
If you are on AT&T and having problems, let us know what you’ve been experiencing and when it all started!
Are you having problems with AT&T Cell Phone Service?
Update #1 11AM, July 2nd – It appears that AT&T problems are affecting ALL AT&T customers in Central Virginia.
Update #2 11:15AM, July 2nd – It appears that AT&T mobile customers have NO VOICE AND NO TEXT MESSAGING abilities.
Update #3 3:45PM, July 2nd – Intermittent service reported, but most customers still have problems.
Update #4 11PM, July 2nd – Service seems to be fixed. Let us know if you experience anything otherwise.
Update #5 4PM, July 3rd – Service still intermittant. Mysterious calls from Number 1. No word on 007.
In addition to the recent bill increasing the maximum speed on VA interstates to 70, two other potentially high-impact bills are set to change Virginia motorways.
