BUSTED: Maine's new Distracted Driving Law

Today I was driving back from a meeting in Augusta, on the phone with another broker negotiating some building inspection issues, when a State Trooper SUV careened up behind me and threw on their blue lights.

Confused, I pulled over, and the officer came up to my window.  I produced my license and registration, and he asked me "Are you familar with the distracted driving law in Maine?" 

{As it turns out, I am - the MAR legislative committee that I volunteer on took it up as an issue last year (a ban on cell phones while driving would be a major hit for Realtors, as our offices are often our cars!), but decided not to oppose it because talking on a cell phone wasnt cited as one of the examples of distracted driving activities.}

"I am," I said, "but I didn't know it applied to talking on cell phones." to which he replied, "Do you think that talking with a cell phone in one hand and waving your other hand all around with no hands on the wheel is a good idea??"

"Oh... sorry, i didn't know I was doing that."

I'm animated anyway, and I was trying to propose a plan of action for how an amendment would get signed by all the parties by 5:00 tonight.  My knee probably filled in a bit at the wheel while my hand made all kinds of pointing motions ("you get it along to your sellers, then to me and I have to drive over to the husband's workplace, and then I'll fax it to his wife...").  Totally a subconsious thing, but I'm sure my hands were following my words as I thought out loud.  That being said, I was on a straight, flat highway, and both eyes were squarely on the road.

As it turned out, he didn't give me a ticket because I didn't actually break the law, and said he wouldn't have blinked an eye at me if he was just driving by.  The reason he stopped me was that the driver behind me had seen my hand waving around and called to report me!!

Moral of the story: Mainers, be careful what you do while driving - even if you're not doing anything wrong, the new law gives other drivers a reason to watch your behavior, and some won't hesitate to turn you in.