Free Talk Live

Like many laws passed by the legislature in Sacramento, California's ban on texting while driving has been ... not so effective. The Automobile Club of Southern California on Wednesday announced that texting by Golden State drivers has nearly doubled since the rule went into effect 19 months ago. Young women (4.3 percent of them text while behind the wheel) were the worst offenders, according to the AAA.

Toronto bus city driver was caught texting while driving.

Avid texters beware: Fort Lee, N.J. police said they will begin issuing $85 jaywalking tickets to pedestrians who are caught texting while walking.

Passed by 95-3 vote, now going to the state senate for consideration. One of the 3 voters against it said it was just feel-good bill aimed at "outlawing stupidity."

An Indianapolis police officer who was once honored for his prolific arrests of drunken drivers could cost the city more than $1 million in legal claims stemming from a fatal crash in which he is accused of driving drunk.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving spokeswoman Dorene Englert expressed disappointment today in Officer David Bisard. MADD recognized Bisard in the late 1990s while he was a Noblesville police officer.

This seems like a classic case of politicians not understanding unintended consequences. Politicians love to ban stuff, but they never take into account the actual response to those bans, and just assume that if the law bans something people will stop doing it. Instead, they may continue to do the action in an even less socially acceptable way -- and that can put a lot more people in danger.

The proposed California law, AB1942, would promote safer driving habits and reduce accidents by permitting video recorders to be installed on the windshield.

The Vancouver Police Department arrested a man on the charge of driving under the influence of marijuana in connection with a deadly crash in Vancouver. Investigators said the driver hit and killed a pedestrian around 5:50 p.m. on East Mill Plain Boulevard and Andresen Road.

Distracted driving has gained much attention lately because of the inflated crash risk posed by drivers using cellphones to talk and text.

But there is another growing problem caused by lower-stakes multitasking - distracted walking - which combines a pedestrian, an electronic device, and an unseen crack in the sidewalk, the pole of a stop sign, a toy left on the living room floor, or a parked (or sometimes moving) car.