Laws against driving while holding a cellphone with a reasonable fine (like $25) are ok; no problem.
Laws against driving while holding a cellphone with a fine of $1300 zero tolerance on the first offense where there is no other laws broken are repugnant and are a direct affront to the freedom of movement and the right to travel with interference that all citizens enjoy.
The DUI racket is a scam on the American driver. Exactly the reason why I try to keep state and local governments out of drone legislation. Only bad things will happen for the drone flyer. This is what I believe.
Sorry but NO... Making fines so cheap means people take the risk and talk or text on their phones, because they probably won't get caught, but if they do, well.. it's only 25 bucks, so no big deal. People will feel it is worth the risk, until they kill someone. But someone needs to die before they feel it is too risky to use the phone. Making the fines higher and enforcing them, means people won't have to die before these ******** put down their phones while driving.
THAT is the reason fines need to be much steeper and yes for the first offense. Do it once, get a steep fine, do it a second time and lose your license. A few of these going around the news and people will sit up and take notice. That will greatly deter the repeat offender who thinks they are fine driving and texting, just like the drunk who feels they are perfectly fine to drive after many drinks.
To say they broke the law, but no other laws were broken, and a steep fine is repugnant, well that is simply another stupid statement. It's like saying that he was doing 85mph in a flashing light school zone of 20mph, but no kids had yet come out of school, and he had his seat belt on, so no other laws were broken therefore, give him a warning. But to fine him heavily would be repugnant, you seem to think. Or doing 140mph in a 65mph zone but there were no other cars around, so just give him a warning, because that would be repugnant to hit him with a heavy fine.
You are not allowed to make a call or text, therefore, there is no reason to have the phone in your hand while driving. Stuck in traffic like you suggested, well just ask your phone to send a text, no need to have it in your hand to do that. Suggesting anything else, is stupid.
You keep saying the DUI check points are a scam, yet you still don't offer up a reason as to why. Driving while trying to text is plain dangerous. Driving while holding a phone and having a conversation is also dangerous. You only have one hand on the wheel and a person can become very involved in a conversation, and pay less attention to driving and more to their conversation.
Taking a quick drink or eating a sandwich is not the safest thing to do while driving. However, unlike a phone conversation, you do not get engrossed in that action. Plus, these are brief moments during your driving. Some conversations can take 10-20-30 mins or more, and herein lies the distraction to a driver, especially if it is a heated or intimate conversation.
A cop has had advanced driver training with recurrent training plus, he is not on his radio for long periods of time, as he drives. I would expect that he is also not on the radio very frequently. A driver who texts and makes phone calls is probably on the phone far more often and will lack concentration of actually driving the vehicle, while on their phone. That in itself, is a very big difference between your suggested comparisons. Your argument does not hold water.