Dan Kristiansen says: Put down the remote and pick up the steering wheel.
  • Dan Kristiansen says: Put down the remote and pick up the steering wheel.
From the Department of Things People Shouldn't Need to Be Told:

Washington State Rep. Dan Kristiansen (R-Snohomish) has introduced a nice, short bill that would prohibit people from watching television while driving.

No person shall drive any motor vehicle equipped with any television viewer, screen, or other means of visually receiving a television broadcast when the moving images are visible to the driver while the motor vehicle is in motion. This subsection does not apply to law enforcement vehicles communicating with mobile computer networks.

(2) No person shall operate any motor vehicle on a public highway while wearing any headset or earphones connected to any electronic device capable of receiving a radio broadcast or playing a sound recording for the purpose of transmitting a sound to the human auditory senses and which headset or earphones muffle or exclude other sounds. This subsection does not apply to students and instructors participating in a Washington state motorcycle safety program.

(3) This section does not apply to authorized emergency vehicles, motorcyclists wearing a helmet with built-in headsets or earphones as approved by the Washington state patrol, or motorists using hands-free, wireless communications systems, as approved by the equipment section of the Washington state patrol.

Rep. Kristiansen could not be reached this morning for an explanation of why he chose to file this bill (though I bet it's good, will let you know when I hear). Meanwhile, the bill's fiscal note says it would be revenue neutral.