Driving, Cell Phone | featured news

California Friday legalized hands-free texting and email while driving using voice-operated technology, with Governor Jerry Brown signing Assembly Bill 1536 into law. It takes effect Jan. 1.

Bright, outgoing college teen Taylor Sauer proved in the last minutes of her life she knew right from wrong — but still committed a fatal mistake. Sauer was making a late-night, four-hour drive from the Utah State University campus in Logan to visit her folks in Caldwell, Idaho. She passed the time along I-84 messaging a pal on Facebook about the Denver Broncos football team. But she stopped short, writing in her final missive, "I can't discuss this now. Driving and facebooking is not safe! Haha."

Federal accident investigators recommended states ban the use of cell phones and other electronic devices by all drivers except in emergencies.

FILE - In this Aug.

With three antsy kids in the back, a husband resistant to bathroom breaks, and spotty cellphone coverage along the route, it's easy to think flying would be easier. If it weren't for that pesky TSA, the checked baggage fee, and having to pay for five airplane tickets, flying would be a no-brainer.

The U.S. Department of Transportation and Consumer Reports magazine have released a poll that illustrates how widespread distracted driving is among young people and a plan to help fight it....

The growth of cell phones with global-positioning technology is making life uncertain for the makers of personal navigational devices that help drivers figure out where they are and where to go....

Many states have laws against texting while driving. But many also are more than happy to tweet you about the traffic conditions.

State Patrol records show that in cases where drivers are contacted about cell phones, they get tickets only about a third of the instances -- both in King County cases and statewide.

Police in Ohio say a woman has been charged with child endangering after another motorist reported she was both breast-feeding a youngster and talking on a phone while driving.