‘No Answer’
courtesy of ‘M.V. Jantzen’
If you’re a habitual in-the-car caller and drive in Maryland at all you’d better pick up a headset before tomorrow’s morning commute. The new law requiring a hands-free device when dialing and driving kicks in tomorrow.
It’s what’s known as a secondary offense, so an officer cannot pull you over and cite you solely for holding your phone to your ear; you need to be doing something else that you can be ticketed for, such as speeding or failing to stop at a stop sign. However, while in theory there is no difference between theory and practice, in practice this isn’t always the case – get an officer’s attention by violating the law and you may find yourself getting stopped when you wouldn’t have otherwise.
You really should just hold that call till you stop – studies show that your performance behind the wheel is degraded by having that conversation, regardless of using a hands-free device. However if you’re going to take the risk anyway you may as well save yourself the $40 first-offender ticket. Further offenses will cost you $100.
Well I used to say something in my profile about not quite being a “tinker, tailor, soldier, or spy” but Tom stole that for our about us page, so I guess I’ll have to find another way to express that I am a man of many interests.
Hmm, guess I just did.
My tastes run the gamut from sophomoric to Shakespeare and in my “professional” life I’ve sold things, served beer, written software, and carried heavy objects… sometimes at the same place. It’s that range of loves and activities that makes it so easy for me to love DC – we’ve got it all.
