Hands Free in Georgia

[himandher818]

Since there are a lot people that drive through Georgia on the way to WDW, I thought I would give a heads up about the new Hands Free Law that goes starts on July 1st.

Short version...Don hold your phone, or keep it in your lap. This article gives and overview, but you want to do a bit more searching for more details. (just don't do the searching while driving in GA)

https://www.ajc.com/news/local/grid...a-act-bans-and-allows/vc3V67pdcnAWflAj19GzDN/

 

[tiggerdad]

Mississippi had a similar law come up about 5 years ago, but ultimately was narrowed down to no texting while driving.

I personally think this is a good law banning the holding of the phone.

 

[friendofeeyore]

Texas says no texting while driving

 

[bama_ed]

The AJC article linked above deals with phones.

My question is can I still eat my BK Whopper with both hands and steer with my knees?

Bama Ed

 

[garneska]

Of course you can Ed. And if I wore a bunch of makeup I can continue to put it on while driving.

 

[tiggerdad]

Of course you can Ed. And if I wore a bunch of makeup I can continue to put it on while driving.

Can I do both?

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Uh, maybe I shouldn't of typed that...

 

[morrik5]

Ontario has had that for years but is putting higher punishments if they choose to pull you over on it.

You can use any device that you do not touch, hold or manipulate while driving, other than to activate or deactivate it. Actions like dialing or scrolling through contacts are not allowed. The exception to the rule is if calling 9-1-1 in an emergency situation.

 

[FtW Mike]

Can I do both?

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Uh, maybe I shouldn't of typed that...

Sure you can Tiggerdad. But then not all of us have your friends to turn over the mundane chores to

 

[KornBred]

Just to chime in, they have been enforcing this strictly for a few months. We live in Randolph County in Southwest Georgia and my wife got a ticket because I called her when she was on the way back from my brother's house to pick up our dog to make sure she was ok. All she did was pick it up to see who it was and she didn't even answer because she was 10 miles from home. A new deputy saw her "put the phone down" as he put it and pulled her over. She has never had any tickets or infractions and he said he only saw her have it for like a couple of seconds but he still ticketed her, no warning at all. Just straight to the ticket. And this was a couple months before the supposed actual enactment date of the new amended version of this law which states you cannot handle any electronic device while driving. Even GPS needs to be in a cradle and started before you leave & if you need to adjust you have to find a parking lot to park in to do it, pulling over to the shoulder and putting the car in park will not count as parking for the purposes of this law. We paid the $150 fine because my wife had to be out of town for work that day but she runs the Tech College branch here so we have gotten to know most of the city & county officials including the Probate Judge who handles these tickets. He told us they are gonna be super strict especially at the beginning of July when the law goes into effect, although if she could have went to court she could have got it thrown out because she wasn't texting and that part of the distracted driving law hadn't been enacted yet. Just had a new deputy eager to collect more taxes for the county. BUT, the point is to just be very careful because they are very serious about enforcement of this law which really begins July 1st and GSP is gung ho about this stuff anyway, so watch yourselves when travelling through the Peach State.

 

[PaHunter]

The AJC article linked above deals with phones.

My question is can I still eat my BK Whopper with both hands and steer with my knees?

Bama Ed

With a Whopper yes, we don't care if you smush that in your face. Now with a Whataburger, no, that would be improper.

 

[HopperFan]

I just want to know who will get a warning/ticket first .... DS or DH?

Thank goodness I can still sip my sweet tea ..... I can use all the sweetness I can get.


The article is reporting it one way, have seen it reported other ways .... NO part of your body may touch any part of the phone if on the road, article implies you may touch one button .... and at one point they said no music or podcasts or recordings may be listened to via your phone .... I'm just hoping the final version is very clear.

 

[team bradfield]

Chicagoland is hands free, I have seen it enforced but mainly ignored by drivers. my fords have the sync system, love it, hands free for a year now.

 

[himandher818]

Ed, not sure about the Whopper, but since this is GA there are probably a few exceptions put into the law ... I would image you would be legally OK eating your Chik-fil-a nuggets that are resting on you leg with one hand while holding the dipping sauce and the steering wheel with the other hand. You can probably still keep you your Coke between your knees at the same time. (note: must be a Coke not a coke like pepsi, rc, or dr. pepper). It would also not surprise me if there is an exception to using the your phone if you are booking a Delta flight, or online shopping at Home Depot.

KornBred, Randolph county may have already had a county law. I know there are some counties that did, and some that where considering it (like Cobb). The law actually doesn't go into effect until July 1st, and was not even signed into law until May 2nd. So if was before that it was a county thing.

The thing that gets me on this is that it is OK to listen to music on your phone if you start it before you get on the road, but you can't touch the phone to control the music app once you are on the road, even to hit the "next" button to skip a song. But you can hit all the buttons you want on the radio, and reach over your phone to hit the five buttons on the radio to setup and navigate your music on your phone if it has a bluetooth connection to the car.

Putting on makeup would not be covered under this law, but I think shaving might not be OK since an electric razor may be considered a "hand held electronic device". So I guess I need to get a Bic disposable, shaving cream, and cup of water to shave on my way to work. At least I can still eat my bowl of cheerios.

 

[himandher818]

you can find the text of the law here. https://www.gahighwaysafety.org/highway-safety/hands-free-law/

I guess the electric razor doesn't count as a hand held electronic device since it doesn't store data.

 

[KornBred]

KornBred, Randolph county may have already had a county law. I know there are some counties that did, and some that where considering it (like Cobb). The law actually doesn't go into effect until July 1st, and was not even signed into law until May 2nd. So if was before that it was a county thing.

It actually isn't a county law. He got her for the old "distracted driving" law but muddled it with some of the finer points of the new "hands free" law. That's why if she could have made it to the court date it would have gotten thrown out. The main difference is distracted driving is no points on the license but carries a $150 fine where as the new law is a $50 first time offender fine with 1 point added to your license. He told my wife he was writing the ticket the way he did so she wouldn't get any points, which shows he was muddling both laws together. Like I said, he was a new deputy. But it is water under the bridge & the GED instructor at my wife's school, who is a county commissioner, has made sure she won't be bothered by bogus stops anymore, so we all good.

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

I think this thread has devolved from a simple heads up into a statement piece not related to camping at the Fort.

 

[2goofycampers]

I think this thread has devolved from a simple heads up into a statement piece not related to camping at the Fort.

I'm sure it will get back on track now.

 

[PaHunter]

Does anyone have Chocolate Chip cookies ? or a good recipe for some ??

 

[himandher818]

I think this thread has devolved from a simple heads up into a statement piece not related to camping at the Fort.

You are right. My post was a little over the top and a bit rant-like. This probably should have been in the Camping Community Board.

To try to put this back to it original purpose ... I have been digging into this a bit more because it affects me directly (I live NW of Atlanta and work NE of Atlanta) and so I'll pass on a bit more of what I have learned, but there still seems to a lot of confusion.

You can not hold or support the phone with any part of your body. It can not be in your hand, it can not be in you lap, and some question as to whether or not on a belt clip is OK or not. I usually have min in my shirt pocket and that is also questionable, I will change how I carry it just in case. The phone must be mounted, laying on the console, or something along those lines.

You can touch you phone to make a call, dial a number, etc. as long you are not holding or supporting the phone. You can not manipulate an app except for GPS, and that is limited as to what is allowed. For GPS your can move the map, but not set the destination. You can use music apps if you set the up before you start, but once on the road not set them up, or change them once you start. You can use any voice operations (speech to text, text to speech) as long as you don't have to manipulate the phone. You can not use any apps that have video (except moving maps on GPS). So you can not take pictures of how bad the traffic in Atlanta is, take pictures of funny bumper stickers, or take selfies. An you definitely can not post those on you tube, face book, instagram, or tweet it.

For vehicles that have features that put functionality onto the vehicle's radio/screens (music, gps, text readers) you can do anything you need to as long as you are doing it through the vehicles system. You can also use your phone in anyway you like if you are legally parked. Is pulled over on the side of the road legally parked, don't know.

The only real exception to any of this is for emergency use, such as calling 911.

The rules are different, and much stricter for, commercial drivers. From what I have been able to find, this is not limited to truck drivers, but any commercial vehicle use.

I do not know how the commercial laws apply to driving a commercial type vehicle personally (such a pulling an RV). Maybe PaHunter or someone can provide more info on that.

please note this is all based on my understanding at the time of writing this. I am in no way a legal expert, law enforcer, or anything like that. Just someone trying to figure it all out.

 

[2goofycampers]

Since a lot of us drive through Georgia on our way south this is good information to know.