California motorists have had to put down their cell phones since Tuesday after a pair of state laws prohibiting handheld cell phone use while driving came into effect.

The laws require adult motorists to use "hands-free" cell phones and prohibit minors from all cell phone use while driving.

Local police departments, county sheriff's departments and the California Highway Patrol are now enforcing the laws across the state, including the Berkeley Police Department and the Alameda County Sheriff's Department.

"They're out there and they're writing citations," said CHP spokesperson Jamie Coffee.

Drivers caught using handheld cell phones will be fined $20 for the first offense and $50 for subsequent offenses, said Coffee.

According to Alameda County CHP officer Sam Morgan, who said he cited two cell phone violators on Wednesday, many motorists in the area have changed their cell phone habits since the new restrictions came into effect.

"We saw more people with wireless adaptors, Bluetooth headsets, or they just weren't using cell phones at all," he said.

Morgan said he thought many motorists were knowledgeable about the cell phone restrictions prior to the enforcement date because of highway signs explaining the laws and the extensive media coverage.

"I'd be shocked if someone told me they did not know about it," Coffee said.

Joe Farren, assistant vice president of public affairs for the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association, said he thought it would be easy for many drivers to switch to hands-free phones because an "overwhelming majority" of cell phones made in the past six years already come with hands-free capabilities, though many drivers may still have to purchase hands-free equipment.

With the enactment of the two cell phone laws, California joins several other states, including New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Washington, in banning drivers from handheld cell phone use. Many other industrialized nations have already banned handheld cell phone use, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada and Japan, said Jed Kolko, a research fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California.

In a report Kolko authored for the institute in May titled "What to Expect from California's New Hands-Free Law," Kolko predicted a decline in traffic-related fatalities by about 300 each year because of the new laws.

While Kolko said scientific studies of distraction while driving indicate that levels of distraction for motorists using hands-free cell phones are similar to those of motorists using handheld phones, he still maintained that the laws would reduce traffic fatalities, as states with handheld bans in effect have shown a notable drop in overall traffic fatalities, he said.

Text messaging while driving is not prohibited under the new laws.

Tags: CELL PHONES