Troubling hands free legislation in Nevada

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joen7xxx

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Two bills have come out of committee this past week, AB151 and SB140. The bills are aimed at distracted driving, texting and cellular telephone usage. The definition of a wireless device in these bills is so vague that it can be used to ticket users of two-way radio systems. The penalties are very high for violations of ths proposed law.

AB151 specifically exempts police, fire and EMTs, but does not cover taxi's, DOT, CBs. Amateur Radio, or any other radio user. SB140 exempts radios with seperate microphone and all controls on the radio and only a PTT button on the mic. Any HT would be illegal under this bill. This seems to be aimed particularly at hams, but my Mototurbo commercial radio for use at work has a DTMF+ mic so it would not be exempted. Also it is very common for others to use HT's in a vehicle.

Members of the Nevada Section of the ARRL have been mounting an information program including legislative committee testamony. I will post templates for letters to legislators as well as the Governor if you wish to comment. Texts of the bills can be viewed at the Nevada Legislative website.

Thanks

Joe
 

joen7xxx

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Nevada Legislative Update

There are two legislative bills that have passed out of committee and are on the floor of the respective houses; SB140 and AB151. These bills are designed to curb texting and cellular use while driving and pose heavy penalties for doing so. The legislators defined wireless devices very broadly and land mobile and Amateur Radio have been caught up in the net. AB151 does not exempt any two-way radio except for police, fire and EMTs so taxis, NDOT, airport vehickles, city and county maintenance vehicles and school busses cannot use their radios. SB140 exempts two-way radio only of all control except for PTT are on the main radio. There is a conception that our DTMF mics are used for texting. Many non-Amateur two-way radios utilize mics with controls on them and are not used for texting. Templates for letters to the legislators can be found on the NV Section website at ARRL Nevada Section Website along with further details regarding this legislation. Please contact your legislators and let them know how you feel about this poorly crafted legislation NOW!
 

com501

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If this somehow gets passed, I'm going to have a field day reporting school buses and city workers in Washoe County.

If I work this right, I could spend most of my days testifying in court on complaints!

Private security patrols won't be exempt either.

This is the end result when people try to write laws to legislate common sense. The common sense approach would be to not do anything, and if a person got in trouble either by getting a ticked or in a collision, THEN you throw the book at them.

I can see the problem now, 6 cops waiting outside the restaurant on a Saturday morning waiting for the 7am ham club to arrive, and writing tickets....:mad:
 

petnrdx

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And of course, EVERY business uses some form of communications device to operate.
Fed-X, UPS, etc. ALL want a exemption.
Unfortunately Amateur Radio will be caught up in the legislation.
This is kinda typical with legislation that has un-anticipated consequences.
My understanding is that one of the driving forces ( no pun intended ) is an assembly member from Clark county that lost a family member to a texting driver.
So, it sounds like there is at least one person pushing this that likely sees no difference between any and all communications devices and or services.
And I am willing to bet that there are STILL far more DUI accidents than cell or texting.
But cell or texting has more draw in the media.
People have their blinders on.
Next will be no Hamburgers or no coffee while driving legislation.
 

W2NJS

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Bad legislation, drawn in haste, no hearings, no outside input, no nothing, just a particular form of bigotry that will impact a lot of people negatively and unnecessarily. Let ARRL jump in and inform the uninformed of the possible effects of the proposed law(s).
 

joen7xxx

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There actually were hearings and we testified, and were asked to give proposed alternative language. Then "someone" got to them. How else does a legislator come up with a microphone with no controls except PTT?
 

W2NJS

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One person should not be allowed to "run the whole show," or to torpedo the truthful comments of interested/affected citizens. What you probably need is ARRL help, and the sooner the better. Someone who comes in and reps the hams will get more attention than local individuals, and it probably would not be too huge a task to track down the guy who poisoned the well after the hearings and have him make his case known. Don't forget that you could perhaps also take a reporter to lunch and try for some press coverage, stressing public service by hams, etc. etc. etc. Good luck, because you'll need it. If we allow the dumb clucks in government to run our lives there's no end to the mess we'll end up in, and today's mess will be nothing compared to what they might do in the long run.
 

com501

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Looking at your sig.... I used to DRIVE a Cadillac ambulance for a living.

Great siren, mounted on the roof, 200 amps, and you could get cars to pull over a mile ahead, even if they couldn't see you, they could hear you. NEVER blow the siren in the tunnel we were told, it knocks the tiles down. (I did, and it did!)
 
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