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California Set for Phone Driving Ban
By Nick on June 28, 2008
Over two dozen countries and several U.S states have already imposed cell phone bans on drivers, but a similar law about to go into effect in California, will not be easy to implement. California is famous for its freeways and automobile-loving population.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, transportation in California was dominated by the Southern Pacific Railroad, and it wasn’t until 1910 when future governor, Hiram Johnson, traveled the state by car that the automobile was seen as a possible solution to California’s transit problems. In 1947, after bottlenecks had brought the state to a standstill, a comprehensive freeway plan was drawn up for Los Angeles and construction of this “web of freeways” got underway in the 1950s.
Here’s a Google Earth snapshot of the East Los Angeles Interchange, the world’s busiest freeway interchange.
Even that elaborate network of freeways wasn’t enough to keep traffic flowing as the population of L.A continued to balloon. Nowadays, people spend a good part of their day stuck in traffic, even conducting business from behind the steering wheel. It’s enough to make anyone snap, and probably inspired the 1993 Michael Douglas movie, Falling Down, which starts with Douglas’ character abandoning his car which is stuck in traffic on an L.A freeway.
It’s not surprising then that people are up in arms about this new law which requires phones to be connected to a hands-free device, and completely bans under-18s from using a phone on the road. The irony is that there’s supposedly a loophole in the law that allows text messaging!
While I was writing this, I found the most amazing photo collection of intersections. Take a look at Incomprehensible Intersections and World’s Worst Intersections and Traffic Jams.
More Info…
- California to Drivers: Drop the Cell Phone Dude – Reuters
- East Los Angeles Interchange on Wikipedia
- East Los Angeles Interchange in Google Maps
- Southern California freeways on Wikipedia
- Malfunction Junction – Problematic interchanges in the U.S. on Wikipedia
Posted in North America | 1 Comment
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One Response to “California Set for Phone Driving Ban”
Comments
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Mark Ramsay, globetrotting from an armchair in England.
10:33 am on June 30th, 2008
Cool blog nick i am always amazed how drivers get around in some parts of America it appears to me to look like a whole bunch of rollercoasters no wonder why Satelite navigation systems are so popular over there. Wow my head wolud spin if i was driving over there really cool blog thanks