Lawmen ready for Hands Free law; are you?

On Wednesday, if anyone brags to their mom, "Look ma, no hands," they'll probably be talking on their smartphone while driving on a New Hampshire road, with both hands on the steering wheel.

That's when a new Granite State law prohibiting drivers from holding cellphones or entering data on any mobile devices takes effect.

Local law enforcement officials say they hope the public is ready, because police will be ready to enforce it, including hefty fines for scofflaws.

That's not to say everyone spotted will get the $100 fine for first-time offenders, said Milton Police Chief Richard Krauss.

"This is going to be a learning curve for law enforcement, for people out in the community and for visitors from other states," Krauss said last week. "I will be leaving it up to my officers, as I do with other traffic citations."

Krauss said that, as with all traffic stops, "Making traffic stops is to change the behavior. If we think a warning will change that behavior, we'll use that. If someone needs a push, that's when a fine could be in order."

And the fines aren't chicken feed, either. A second offense is $250, a third is $500.

Dubbed the Hands Free Law, the law prohibits the entering of data on all mobile electronic devices and the holding of any cellphone while driving.

The rumors, however, that you won't be able reach for the knob to turn down your radio or turn up your air conditioning aren't true, of course, but when it comes to devices like cellphones, Ipods, Ipads or GPS, if you do data entry, you're doing a no-no and risk that warning or fine.

Krauss' department has been handing out flyers on the Hands Free law to anyone subjected to a traffic stop for several weeks now, and he hopes the outreach will help get the word out about the new law, which has been reported on heavily in local and state media.

Meanwhile, in Rochester, police also have no official plan for enforcing the new law, especially the first weekend when thousands of 4^th of July visitors will be in the state on holiday.

"We like to give our officers a lot of discretion on traffic stops," said Rochester Police Capt. Gary Boudreau. "There's no official enforcement plan (locally)."

Police are urging drivers to take the time between now and Wednesday to make necessary adjustments to their phones and vehicles to make them compatible with the new law. Of course, many new vehicles have hands-free technology, but just buying a Bluetooth, which costs about $35, or hooking your phone to your car speaker could keep you legal.

Krauss said that data entry is the key to culpability. If you're entering data in any way, shape or form, you would be subject to being pulled over, cited and fined.

But if you're phone rings and you have to look down to press the answer button, you're OK. You just can't be holding the phone.

"It's like you're radio. You're allowed to press the button to change from AM to FM, but you can't manipulate an electronic device to start the music," Krauss said.