To Bridget in Folsom, Keith in Orangevale, David in Sacramento and several other annoyed readers:
Yes. Sorry to say, there is in fact a "double standard" with police and cell phones.
Police can talk on handheld cell phones while driving. The rest of us cannot.
We discussed this before, but we're coming back to it this week, on the one-year anniversary of the law, because we're hearing some resentment toward police.
Bridget Quiroz from Folsom asks: "What do I tell my children, after our discussions about the law and not using cell phones while driving, and they see policemen driving while on their cell phones?"
The answer is that the state's cell phone law was written to exclude police making work calls on duty.
Here's the wording: "This section does not apply to an emergency services professional... while operating an authorized emergency vehicle... in the course and scope of his or her duties."
Officers say they use cell phones to talk with dispatchers or other officers about things they don't want broadcast on open police radio.
Some officers may be checking in with people who have reported crimes.
OK, but why not do it hands-free?
Some do. The Sacramento Police Department now requires officers to use only hands-free cell phones, and the CHP tells officers to go hands-free in most cases. "It's a perception issue, mainly," Sac PD's Norm Leong said.
But the basic fact is, police do a lot of things in vehicles the rest of us aren't allowed. They can check their computers and hold radios while driving, and they can drive faster than the speed limit.
Do some use cell phones on duty to order lunch or set up a weekend golf date, as some of you might suspect?
That we don't know.
Last week we reported the CHP has been issuing more cell phone citations lately, but we weren't sure why.
Lizz Dutton of CHP's North Sacramento office said officers cut drivers slack early on, figuring some may not know the law was in effect. That grace period is over.
Motorcycle fatalities up
Traffic fatality rates nationally were down again last year, except for one group - motorcyclists. Their death and injury rates have been going up for a decade.
Part of it is that guys in their 40s and 50s are buying bikes, often big ones, after years of just sitting behind the wheel of a car.
Summer is when crashes and fatality rates jump.
The California Office of Traffic Safety is asking new or returning motorcyclists, of any age, to take the California Motorcyclists Safety Program.
Transit victory - for now
A Sacramento court last week ruled that the state is illegally siphoning money from woeful local bus agency budgets into the (woefuller?) state budget. With between $3 billion and $4 billion at stake, state officials say they'll appeal.
Call The Bee's Tony Bizjak, (916) 321-1059.
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