LETTERS

Re “Shriver caught using phone in car,” Oct. 14

I might be willing to overlook the governor’s wife failing to use a hands-free cellphone, but I have a more difficult time forgiving her for driving a gas-guzzling behemoth.

Why isn’t she behind the wheel of a hybrid?

Bill Ellis

Ladera Ranch

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Here’s my thought: We pass laws for our safety and impose fines in hopes to help build revenue. There are no disadvantages to this formula. Now why can’t it be implemented?

Every day I see people on the freeways and the streets on their cellphones without the required earpieces. I think people will finally get the message if they have to pay the fine. Or maybe not; maybe it’s not high enough?

Barbara Challis

Los Angeles

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The moves to ban cellphone use and texting are a joke as long as citizens don’t see the distractions as a problem.

In my 18-mile drive to work, I still see dozens of drivers with phones to their ears, unworried about being cited.

It also doesn’t help that the governor’s wife was caught with a phone to her ear. She must not feel that this is very serious.

A car out of control is a dangerous weapon; people are killed and injured. The fine should be more than the cost of half a dozen coffees, and repeated violations should be grounds for much heavier fines or license suspension.

Dean Blau

Van Nuys

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The governor’s wife being spotted talking on her hand-held cellphone while driving clearly represents that the law requiring “no-hands usage” has proved to be an ineffective deterrent to a dangerous and potentially deadly activity.

I think it’s partly because the fine for doing so is minuscule. The fine for breaking the “no-hands usage law” needs to be at least $250 the first time and increased in similar increments, with nonpayment of the fines held to the same penalties as other traffic violations.

People need to take this law seriously; the lives saved could be their own.

Doris K. Reed

Los Angeles