Starting today, the drivers in Washington State can no longer use their cell phones in the old fashioned way while driving, as the new set of laws recently approved state that it is mandatory to use a hands-free device while operating a vehicle.

The amount announced for such a violation runs up to $124 and it should make drivers think twice before picking up the phone. Of course that the main thought here is to make people understand the safety risks involved in driving while talking on a cell and not just to scare them off with big fines.   

Both Washington and California recently decided on such a measure with hand-held devices but it seems that the majority of the general public looks at the initiative without much conviction on its success rate. Apparently, many believe that even though it may help a bit to have both hands available, the main distraction isn’t connected to the device itself but rather the conversation, which sometimes causes drivers to space out during the discussions and forget to pay attention to their activity.

Many use their hands while talking in order to send a stronger message and even though during a phone conversation it might not help, people do it out of habit. So now, with one hand on the wheel and the other one free, ready to ‘give’ explanations, we might encounter a very similar number of accidents but significantly less tickets.

The law is more likely to have a bigger impact on headset sales and other such products, as people usually tend to conform to the government requirements.