IT'S DEAD!
Good news for amateur radio operators, who would have been covered under this bad legislation.
Idaho lawmakers have been wrestling with the issue of texting while driving for several sessions now. And it appears they will be doing so again in 2012 after House Bill 141 was defeated Tuesday afternoon.
The bill, proposed by Rep. Marv Hagedorn, R-Meridian, would have created a new class of infraction — distracted driving.
Currently, officers can only charge reckless or inattentive driving, both are misdemeanors.
But Hagedorn's bill only applied to distracted driving while using a handheld electronic device, leading some lawmakers to question why other distracted drivers could not be cited under the bill.
Other lawmakers complained about the bill's statement of purpose, its ambiguous language and its lack of clear definitions.
Forty-eight lawmakers voted against the bill, which had just 21 yes votes.
"I never thought solving our texting problem could be so hard," Hagedorn said during the House debate.
Last year, then-Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Eagle, killed a texting while driving bill on the session's final day.
It's dead, but not over...We must be vigilant when it comes up again, in fact, supply our input before it get too far!!!
IDAHO HOUSE BILL HR-141 WILL EFFECTIVELY KILL HAM RADIO MOBILE OPERATION!!!
Read the entire bill!
(It's short)
Pay special attention that nowhere is it addressed to exclude any emergency mobile operations i.e. police, fire, ambulances or forest service mobile units, BLM units, ACHD units, Fish and Game units, Gas company units, Idaho Power units, city works department units, correctional facility units, taxi cabs, towing services, the list goes on!
When bills are vague and not precisely
to the point, misinterpretations will be made thus causing problems for
others,
which could cause those suspect violators to pay dearly to get out of, you get
the idea! We don't need more of this!
Everyone NEEDS to contact their representative and voice your concern, yeah it's easy to let the "other guy" call, but wait,
YOU, ME, HIM, HER, WE ARE THE OTHER GUYS!!! WE ALL NEED TO GET THIS CHANGED NOW!
Marv Hagadorn is the initiator of this bill. You can leave a message by calling this number: 208-332-1000
Leave a civil message, any hot
headed message will not help but rather hurt our chance of getting this changed!
State facts not opinions supporting ham radio.
There are some very good items that it contains, such as texting but it should exclude hams, fire, medical and police mobile operations!
http://www.legislature.idaho.gov/legislation/2011/H0141E1.pdf