COLLINS: Keep your hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road. There's an idea. Drivers in California will be banned from texting while driving under a bill signed into law yesterday. Beginning January 1st, drivers caught texting or reading text messages while driving now face a $20 fine for the first offense, a $50 fine for repeat offenses. The new regulation expands on the law in place since July that banned using hand-held cell phones while driving. Beating rush hour traffic. We all want to do it. I know you've thought of this. Not many of us, though, would probably go to this extent. Check it out. A New York man used a Plexiglas cutout as a passenger so that he could get away with driving in the HOV lane. It worked for more than a year. But one cop spotted something funny and pulled the guy over.</s>DEPUTY SHERIFF ROBERT HOWARD, SUFFOLK COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT.: I started noticing the operator talking with his hands and looking over at the subject next to him which I noticed the gentleman wearing a hat. So it appeared there's two people in the car. I said it still looked strange because the person next to him wasn't moving.</s>COLLINS: Plastic doesn't move a whole lot, does it? We're told the driver got a $90 ticket and could get hit with three points on his license. Outrage inside Washington, outside Washington. Voters venting about the government bailout plan, elected officials really hearing it in one western state.
Texting while Driving to be Banned in California