The big day has now passed for California drivers and mobile phones are effectively banned on the road. At least not without a hands-free device…which Californians will inevitably forget to charge or lose. Other states have this law, but California is the driving-while-talking state. California is regularly ranked the worst for traffic congestion, and its 60 million residents spend more time in traffic not driving than just about anybody else. It’s a big deal, but also, this law is a joke: The fine is only US$20. The dumbest thing, however, is that there is a laundry list of far more distracting gadget and non-gadget tasks that are still perfectly legal behind the wheel of a car: