Is banning passengers in cars next?: bans on talking on cell phones

So if the conversation, not the phone, is the problem, why allow passengers in cars? From Fox News:

If you’re driving through Chapel Hill, N.C., and your cellphone rings, don’t answer it. Starting June 1, you can get a $25 dollar ticket for talking on your cellphone while driving within the city limits. In a close 5-4 vote, the town council decided to ban any phone calls made while operating a vehicle – that includes hands-free devices, such as Bluetooth and speakerphones. Chapel Hill, home to the University of North Carolina, is the first municipality in the nation to enact a complete ban on all cellphone use in cars. Town council member Penny Rich says a large number of pedestrians and bicyclists navigating sidewalks and streets among drivers who tend to multitask is a dangerous mix. “The distraction is not holding the phone. The distraction is actually the conversation,” Rich said. “So just holding the phone is not what is making you drive poorly, it’s the conversation.” . . .

It turns out that liberal Democrats don't mind forcing states to adopt the laws that they like

I can understand laws against texting while driving, but state governments can pass these as well as the federal government. It was amusing to see all Democrats attacking a national reciprocity law for concealed carry as impinging on state rights have no problem with regulating driving laws across states. The new Senate legislation is discussed here.

Obama administration investigating technology that will stop the use of cell phones in cars

So are passengers not going to be able to use cell phones? What if there is an emergency? What if people only answer calls or use hands free phones? LaHood says that he is "on a rampage" to disable cellphones in cars.

Secretary Ray LaHood said using a cell phone while driving is so dangerous that devices may soon be installed in cars to forcibly stop drivers — and potentially anyone else in the vehicle — from using them.

“There’s a lot of technology out there now that can disable phones and we’re looking at that,” said LaHood on MSNBC. LaHood said the cellphone scramblers were one way, and also stressed the importance of “personal responsibility.”

The hosts of Morning Joe pushed the secretary about the possibility of requiring scrambling technology installed in vehicles.

“I think it will be done,” said LaHood. “I think the technology is there and I think you’re going to see the technology become adaptable in automobiles to disable these cell phones. We need to do a lot more if were going to save lives.”

LaHood’s appearance coincided with the transportation department’s launch of the “Faces of Distracted Driving,” an online campaign aimed at scaring drivers safe. The awareness initiative features videos of people who have been injured by distracted drivers. . . . .

May Cell Phones Prevent Alzheimer's?

After all the lack of findings that cell phones cause cancer, it is interesting to see this work that indicates a benefit from cell phones.

A study in mice suggests using cellphones may help prevent some of the brain-wasting effects of Alzheimer's disease, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.

After long-term exposure to electromagnetic waves such as those used in cell phones, mice genetically altered to develop Alzheimer's performed as well on memory and thinking skill tests as healthy mice, the researchers wrote in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

The results were a major surprise and open the possibility of developing a noninvasive, drug-free treatment for Alzheimer's, said lead author Gary Arendash of the University of South Florida.

He said he had expected cell phone exposure to increase the effects of dementia.

"Quite to the contrary, those mice were protected if the cell phone exposure was stared in early adulthood. Or if the cellphone exposure was started after they were already memory- impaired, it reversed that impairment," Arendash said in a telephone interview.

Arendash's team exposed the mice to electromagnetic waves equivalent to those emitted by a cellphone pressed against a human head for two hours daily over seven to nine months.

At the end of that time, they found cellphone exposure erased a build-up of beta amyloid, a protein that serves as a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease.

The Alzheimer's mice showed improvement and had reversal of their brain pathology, he said.

"It (the electromagnetic wave) prevents the aggregation of that bad protein of the brain," Arendash said. "The findings are intriguing to us because they open up a whole new field in neuroscience, we believe, which is the long-term effects of electromagnetic fields on memory."

Arendash said his team was modifying the experiment to see if they could produce faster results and begin testing humans. . . .

Cell Phone Use and Brain Cancer?

A new study claims that "Cell Phones Could Be More Dangerous Than Cigarettes" in causing cancer. The claim is that it takes about 10 years for this to occur, but that cell phones can double the risk of brain cancer. Given the number of people using cell phones for a long time, one would think that the impact of this would have begun to show up. The Census Bureau claims that:

The number of cell phone subscribers in the United States reached approximately 159 million in 2003, up from 34 million in 1995, according to the latest edition of the national data book released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. . . .

But look at these numbers on brain cancer rates from the National Cancer Institute. Brain cancer rates have been flat for the last decade. If cell phones doubled brain cancer rates for those who used them, one would think you would see something in these numbers. The researcher may be correct about the direction, but the effect must be relatively small.

One possibly unrelated question that I have is: why is the brain cancer rate for whites so high relative to other groups?

Schumer exaggerating cell phone record risk?

Given that this is being pushed by Senator Charles Schumer and given how much he hypes the gun issue, I have my strong doubts about the accuracy of these claims. I don't know anything about this question regarding cell phones, but I know about Schumer and his false claims everything from terrorists getting guns at gun shows to you name it regarding guns. However, I will bet that this will get a lot of attention.

The Chicago Police Department is warning officers their cell phone records are available to anyone -- for a price. Dozens of online services are selling lists of cell phone calls, raising security concerns among law enforcement and privacy experts.

Criminals can use such records to expose a government informant who regularly calls a law enforcement official.

Suspicious spouses can see if their husband or wife is calling a certain someone a bit too often.

And employers can check whether a worker is regularly calling a psychologist -- or a competing company.

Some online services might be skirting the law to obtain these phone lists, according to Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who has called for legislation to criminalize phone record theft and use. . . .