Below are some cell phone tips that our readers would like to share with others. Include your First name and city / state,and let us give you credit for sharing the information. I have also included a link to a Cell Phone Glossary ~Pastor Mark

THIS MEMBER (Sean A.) IS FROM CENTRAL OHIO:

I was recently checking out a possible Urban Legend at snopes.com ( http://www.snopes.com/ ) when I found a legend they were reviewing about cell phone hidden uses. They clarified some of the points and debunked a couple but there are a couple useful tips. One in particular was the 112 as an emergency number. I had direct experience about the failings of 911 calls on my cell phone. I was in Knox county canvassing and my cohort and myself smelled a gas leak in a a very densely packed residential area. I called 911 but was connected with Licking County, not Knox county, emergency services. In addition my home phone number had been "ported" to my cell phone some years before when I went mobile only. The Licking County Sherrif Dept. didn't want to believe I was calling from Knox County. They didn't contact Knox County E.S. but instead called me back and insisted that since they had called my home phone number I MUST be at home. After a period of time spent explaining cellular phone technology to them. They finally agreed to call Knox County E.S. and a fire truck was dispatched.

Also with cell phone companies charging Up to $1.50 a call for 411 I found 800-FREE-411 very interesting. Check their web page at: http://www.free411.com/index.php
http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/household/cellphones.asp

(UPDATE) About 30 minutes ago I had a chance to try the 800 FREE 411. A garage was burning down in our neighborhood and I knew the person who owned the house rather casually. The owner was not home. I didn't know his number but thought if I called his home phone it might be forwarded to a cell phone as some people have calls forwarded. I called Free 411 and after an ad for McDonald's I was connected to a computer that ask a couple of questions got the right name and location and then read another short ad and gave me the number. It took a little longer but I didn't have to pay T-Mobile $1.40 for the info.

I have also told by my pcs provider to include an emergency number of who I needed to have notified in the event of an emergency, by placing it in my phonebook as ICE... (In Case of Emergency) Pastor Mark

Click here: State Cell Phone Driving Laws

Cell Phone Driving Laws

May 2009

Current state cell phone driving law highlights include the following:

Handheld Cell Phone Bans for All Drivers: 5 states (California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and Washington), the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands prohibit all drivers from talking on handheld cell phones while driving.
- With the exception of Washington State, these laws are all primary enforcement—an officer may ticket a driver for using a handheld cell phone while driving without any other traffic offense taking place.
All Cell Phone Bans: No state completely bans all types of cell phone use (handheld and hands-free) for all drivers, but many prohibit cell phone use by certain segments of the population.
- Novice Drivers: 21 states and the District of Columbia ban all cell use by novice drivers.
- School Bus Drivers: In 18 states and the District of Columbia, school bus drivers are prohibited from all cell phone use when passengers are present.
Text Messaging: 10 states (Alaska, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Jersey, Utah, Virginia and Washington) and the District of Columbia have a text messaging ban for all drivers.
- Novice Drivers: 11 states prohibit text messaging by novice drivers.
- School Bus Drivers: 2 states legally restrict school bus drivers from texting while driving.
Preemption Laws: 8 states have laws that prohibit local jurisdictions from enacting restrictions. In 6 other states, localities are allowed to ban cell phone use.
Some states, such as Utah and New Hampshire, treat cell phone use as a larger distracted driving issue.
- Utah considers speaking on a cellphone to be an offense only if a driver is also committing some other moving violation (other than speeding).

State	Handheld Ban	All Cell Phone Ban		Text Messaging Ban			Enforcement	Crash Data Collected	Pre- emption Law
State	Handheld Ban	School Bus Drivers	Novice Drivers	All Drivers	School Bus Drivers	Novice Drivers	Enforcement	Crash Data Collected	Pre- emption Law
Alabama
Alaska				Yes	Covered under all driver ban	Covered under all driver ban	Primary	Yes
Arizona		Yes					Primary
Arkansas		Yes	<18 (18 - 20– handheld only)	Yes (eff. 10/09)	Covered under all driver ban	Covered under all driver ban	Primary
California	Yes	Yes	<18	Yes	Covered under all driver ban	Covered under all driver ban	Primary	Yes
Colorado			Learners Permit				Secondary	Yes
Connecticut	Yes	Yes	Learners Permit and <18	Yes	Covered under all driver ban	Covered under all driver ban	Primary	Yes
Delaware		Yes	GDL			GDL	Primary	Yes
D.C.	Yes	Yes	Learners Permit	Yes	Covered under all driver ban	Covered under all driver ban	Primary
Florida				Yes	Yes			Yes	Yes
Georgia		Yes		Yes	Yes		Primary	Yes
Hawaii				Yes	Yes
Idaho				Yes
Illinois	By jurisdiction	Yes	<19	Yes			Primary	Yes
Indiana			<18			<18		Yes
Iowa								Yes
Kansas			Learner or Intermediate License (eff. 1/10)			Learner or Intermediate License (eff. 1/10)
Kentucky		Yes					Primary		Yes
Louisiana ¹	See footnote	Yes	See footnote	Yes	Covered under all driver ban	Covered under all driver ban	Secondary (primary for school bus)		Yes
Maine			<18			<18	Primary
Maryland			<18 w/ Learner or Provisional License			<18 w/ Learner or Provisional License	Secondary	Yes
Massachusetts	By jurisdiction	Yes					Primary	Yes
Michigan ²	By jurisdiction		See footnote					Yes
Minnesota		Yes	Learner or Provisional License for 1st 12 mos.	Yes	Covered under all driver ban	Covered under all driver ban	Primary	Yes
Mississippi						Learner or Provisional License (eff. 7/09)			Yes
Missouri
Montana								Yes
Nebraska			<18 w/ Learners or Provisional License			<18 w/ Learners or Provisional License	Secondary	Yes
Nevada								Yes	Yes
New Hampshire ³
New Jersey	Yes	Yes	<21 w/ GDL or Provisional License	Yes	Covered under all driver ban	Covered under all driver ban	Primary	Yes
New Mexico	By jurisdiction and in State vehicles
New York	Yes	Yes					Primary	Yes
North Carolina		Yes	<18		Yes	<18	Primary	Yes
North Dakota
Ohio	By jurisdiction			Yes
Oklahoma								Yes	Yes
Oregon			<18 w/ Learner or Provisional License			<18 w/ Learner or Provisional License	Secondary	Yes	Yes
Pennsylvania	By jurisdiction							Yes
Rhode Island		Yes	<18				Primary
South Carolina
South Dakota								Yes
Tennessee		Yes	Learners Permit or Intermediate License				Primary	Yes
Texas		Yes, w/ passenger <17	Intermediate Stage, 1st 6 mos.		Yes, w/ passenger <17	Intermediate Stage, 1st 6 mos.	Primary	Yes
Utah ⁴	See footnote			Yes	Covered under all driver ban	Covered under all driver ban	Secondary	Yes	Yes
Vermont
Virgin Islands	Yes						No data	Yes
Virginia		Yes	<18	Yes (eff. 7/09)	Covered under all driver ban	Covered under all driver ban	Secondary (primary for school bus)	Yes
Washington	Yes			Yes	Covered under all driver ban	Covered under all driver ban	Secondary	Yes
West Virginia			Learner or Intermediate Stage			Learner or Intermediate Stage	Secondary
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Total	5 + D.C., Virgin Islands By jurisdiction: 6	18 + D.C.	21 + D.C.	10 + D.C.	2	11		29 + Virgin Islands	8

¹ During the 2008 legislative session, Louisiana passed 3 different cellphone laws addressing teen drivers. The governor signed all three. It is unclear whether both handheld and hands-free phone use is prohibited, or whether only handheld phone use is banned. All 3 laws prohibit text messaging.
² In Michigan, teens with probationary licenses whose cell phone usage contributes to a traffic crash or ticket may not use a cell phone while driving.
³ Dealt with as a distracted driving issue; New Hampshire enacted a comprehensive distracted driving law.
⁴ Utah's law defines careless driving as committing a moving violation (other than speeding) while distracted by use of a handheld cellphone or other activities not related to driving.

Sources: American Automobile Association (AAA), Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and State Highway Safety Offices. Most recently updated April 2009.

Cell Phone Driving Laws

May 2009

State

Handheld Ban

All Cell Phone Ban

Text Messaging Ban

Enforcement

Crash Data Collected

Pre- emption Law

School Bus Drivers

Novice Drivers

All Drivers

School Bus Drivers

Novice Drivers

Crash
Data
Collected

Pre-
emption
Law