mmarshall

For those who live and/or drive in Virginia, a new traffic law went into effect yesterday. Texting behind the wheel, when the car is in motion, is now a primary rather than a secondary traffic-offense. That means that a cop can now stop you specifically for texting, not not just if he or she notices it while stopping you for something else (though who but an idiot is going to deliberately keep texting when cop flashes his lights behind you.....I never undersotood that one). Fine for the first offense is $125, with $250 for a repeat. Also, because of a restructuring of of the state's fuel-taxes, the price of gas at the pump drops by several cents a gallon.....which will be offset by a rise in the general state sales tax. Maryland, in contrast, right across the Potomac river, just increased their gas tax by 6 cents a gallon yesterday....making gas, on average, significantly cheaper in Virginia. There will probably be a LOT of traffic at local Virginia gas stations near the river from Maryland drivers crossing over and trying to save some $$$ at the pump.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Well texting while driving is stupid. Not surprised it's now a primary law. Now your "no radar detectors" on the other hand

mmarshall

Well, even with VA's famous no-detector law (detectors can be in the car, but their actual use is forbidden in the state) radar is becoming passe anyway, as police turn more and more to newer methods, like laser, LIDAR, and actual patrol-car measuring.

VA's law, BTW doesn't just outlaw the actual use of detectors on paper, but effectively enforces it. The cops often know when you are using one. Their cruisers have electronic "detector-detectors", and authority to impound the device if they find it.

The flip-side to that strict no-detector law, though, is that both local and state cops in VA are usually pretty good about giving speeders at least some leeway....and, for minor cases, often just give warnings. It's uncommon in the state to get tickets, especially on the Interstate highways, for anything less than 10-15 MPH over the official posted limit.....and some posted limits just recently went up on certain roadways.

As far as texting while driving goes, I agree it's dumb. I've also seen some wise guys, behind the wheel, hold their texting-devices down in their laps, below the car's window-beltline, thinking that they can pull a fast one and hide the device while using it. They sure don't fool me.....whether they can fool the cops or not remains to be seen (I wouldn't bet on it).

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

^^ I dont necessarily speed. I just like the fact that my detector an Escort 9500ix can sense their presence sometimes before I can see them. More piece of mind

SteVTEC

It's good that they're doing this. I'm so freaking tired of all of these MORONS on the road who can barely drive safely as it is who then decide to text on top of that. I've been stuck behind an idiot literally going 5 mph down the road not having noticed that traffic was now moving again and a full city block ahead of him. Horning him twice didn't get his attention so I had to lay on it for 10 seconds solid. Then he finally got moving.... up to 15 and kept on texting. Traction control off and full throttle when there was finally an opening to get around this assclown. On top of that, I've had numerous people drifting lanes and nearly hitting me, kicking up all sorts of crap on my car on the interstate when they hit the rumble strips, let their speed vary all over the place going down to 55 in the left lane and then speeding back up to 75 when I'm trying to go around them. Even my wife is getting fed up and gave me "WOT authority" to get around some of these fools. I hate "yet more laws", but people are just plain retarded and need to start getting punished for this. /rant

BTW I was most pleased a few years back when I noticed that they upped the speed limit to 70 mph on I-64 heading down to VA Beach, where we're headed this weekend. That means you can pretty much cruise at a good 75-80 mph and not worry.

mmarshall

Living in CA, I doubt that you would be in VA very often anyway, except maybe coming to D.C. on buisness matters or as a tourist, which a lot of people nationwide do.

CA, BTW, may not have an anti-detector law like in VA, but, IMO, they have enough goofy laws/procedures of their own, especially from CARB, which drives up the price of fuel compared to many other states. The state, because of emissions reasons, also prohibits the sale of some vehicles and vehicle-drivetrains compared to those available in other states. Of course, in their favor, one can also find an abundance of alternate-fuel vehicles in CA (like the GX natural-gas Honda Civic) that are just not marketed in other states.

mmarshall

You'll probably get around people like that more quickly with the T/C left on and the drive-wheels not spinning....also less likely for you to lose control of your own car.

Problem is.....just getting to I-64 from MD. Unless you use 301 through Waldorf and and the long bridge across the Potomac to Colonial Beach, or U.S. 1 and all of its stoplights, it usually means I-95 down through Fredericksburg to Richmond, with endless construction/backups.

BTW, if you live anywhere near the VA line (or near a bridge across the Potomac), come on over to VA to gas up (Giant grocery stores also give you even more discount-points on Shell gas). Governor O'Malley and the MD state legislature really socked you guys yesterday on gas prices. Here, in VA, gas prices went down July 1...though our local sales taxes went up.

LeX2K

Fine is way too low. And they should add to the law, anyone caught texting and driving should receive a heavy fine, and a kick in the crotch. Twice.

Aron9000

Depends on the car, I hated that damn feature on the automatic 1999 Z28 Camaro I had. Spin the tires a little bit on takeoff, it kills the the power to the point of holding you up a good 2-3 seconds. Spin the tires a bit on a 2-1 downshift at 20-25mph it would kill the fun and shift up to 3rd for you. Totally lame feature, as it was never needed in the rain since I minded my right foot, and I was never stupid enough to try driving it in the snow.

SteVTEC

That's why we leave at 5:30am from Rockville. As long as we clear Quantico before most people wake up and get on the road we tend to be in pretty good shape. And yes, very seriously considering gassing up in VA. Not sure if it'd really be worth it considering it would cost about a gallon of gas to get down there and back, but if we're already down there as we commonly are from time to time...

Gotta love "OweMalley". They already raised our sales tax and a bunch of other taxes a few years back. It's never enough. They always need more.

It cuts in so aggressively on my 335i that it's pretty much required that you disable it if you need to pull out into fast moving traffic or through a narrow gap. The slightest bit of wheelspin and it cuts the power, cuts the boost, and dumps you into the next higher gear, which can be a bit dangerous if you're trying to squeeze through a narrow gap in traffic. It's a two step system on these cars. The first step is partial off and gives you a lot more leeway and is usually all that's needed, and the second step is full off and you'd better be paying attention. I commonly drive around with it partially disabled because I get so tired and annoyed with how quickly it cuts in. Seriously, going over a pebble while accelerating even somewhat hard will trigger it.

j2b4o

It's probably not a new law but te new to me. Just got a ticket on 64east for having my sons baby shoes hanging from the mirror. Obstruction of view aparently......

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

wow not even a warning. what's a ticket like that cost?