Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the legislation into law on Thursday. At the bill-signing ceremony held at Sequoia High School in Redwood City, the governor explained the decision invoking the supplementary protection that youngsters should receive: “The simple fact is that teenage drivers are more easily distracted. They are young, inexperienced and have a slower reaction time.”

Teens cited under SB33, authored by state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto will be spared the first time they are caught breaking the rules by paying only $20, but the second offense and the rest will make them take out of their pockets $50. However traffic officers won’t pull any driver over just for a cell phone infraction and the traffic safety point system won’t record the violations. An exemption to the law will constitute emergency calls.

Reported figures also highlight the legitimacy of the new regulations. A recent survey conducted by AAA and Seventeen Magazine reveals that about a third of the minors polled recognize that they are distracted while behind the wheel by text messaging or taking phone calls. Moreover, a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study discovered that a growing number of young drivers aged from 16 to 24 used a handheld phone (although hands-free sets are required!), 8 percent in 2004 compared to 5 percent in 2002 and 3 percent in 2000.

The governor office also pinpointed that highway crashes account for 44 percent of US teen deaths every year, being the major death cause among teens between 16 and 20.

Under the new regulations, minors won’t be allowed to use the hands-free devices while driving, this having been the requirement of a law passed by Simitian the last year, which will apply only to the rest of the drivers.

Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia and Washington, D.C. have similar laws in effect.