LOOKFORSIGNS.ORG

2008-09-29T12:39:00.000-07:00

In the process of expanding...

LOOKFORSIGNS.ORG has a new look and some new projects
{check it out here}.

follow this link to the Relax Project Public Art Proposal {the relax project}

and stay tuned for The Path Most Traveled, a stencil project provoking pedestrians to think before they cut corners...

2008-07-14T17:11:00.001-07:00

F.A.Q.'s for "Redefining the Call Box."

What is LOOKFORSIGNS.ORG reacting to?
California's new law: 2008 Vehicle Code Division 11, Chapter 12, Article 1 Section 23123 prohibiting hand-held wireless phone usage while driving.

LOOKFORSIGNS.ORG sees ALL cellphone use as EQUAL. It's more than merely having a phone in your hand that causes distractions while driving... IT'S ENGAGING IN ANOTHER TASK WHILE DRIVING period. Texting is legal. 2-way radios (Nextel) are legal. Speaker phone is legal. Headsets are legal. But we believe that if you impose a law, don't impose it only half way. It's a fair assumption to say that there will not be any LESS traffic accidents, but only MORE traffic ticket revenue following this new law.

What's the big idea?
LOOKFORSIGNS.ORG is more than just posting signs for art's sake. We see an issue and we address it. "Redefining the Call Box" addresses a problem that goes beyond just wearing a headset while driving. We understand the reason California enforced the headset law, but more importantly, as we dwell on the "Redefining the Call Box" concept, we realize the importance of it and feel the need for it to become real. And the list of reasons continues to grow as we think of it's potential.

When someone is engaged in a conversation on the road with another who is not on the road via cellphone, they are not fully focused on the road. Just because there is not a phone in one hand, does not mean the motorist is fully capable of driving safer.

Redefining the Call Box is the solution to a safer highway.

How does it work?
Basically, the "new" Call Boxes" are drive-thru talking areas. You pull your vehicle into a Call Box, talk your talk, and move on. See the many images posted at lookforsigns.org.

I'm into this concept and I have ideas to share. How do I get involved?
that's easy, just email fred@brianprince.com. The more brainstorm, the better.

2008-07-14T16:35:00.000-07:00

PHASE 2

The "new" Call Boxes need pre-warning signs to allow motorists to merge toward the shoulder in time to pull over and into them. Here is one posted on the 57 freeway southbound.

2008-07-10T02:55:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: brian prince
LOOKFORSIGNS.ORG
Phone: 714 336 6170
Email: fred@brianprince.com

REDEFINING THE CALL BOX

Fullerton, California, July 10, 2008 — Just when California thought the term “Call Box” was becoming obsolete, the action-oriented artist organization, LOOKFORSIGNS.ORG, dreamt up a concept that not only enables the “Call Box” to continue it’s life, but aims for safer roadways.

For years the current blue-sign, yellow-phone Call Box has been a roadside emergency phone providing assistance to motorists in trouble, allowing them to report a road hazard or vehicle breakdowns. Today, motorists are using their own cellphones to alert officials. But, as of July 1, 2008, California passed a new law prohibiting the use of cellphones without a headset while driving a vehicle. While the law allows forgiveness for emergency phone calls, LOOKFORSIGNS.ORG sees all cellphone usage as equal and feels the need to create dedicated space along the highways and city streets for motorists to make calls. These proposed redefined Call Boxes, are literally just that – a box for making calls. They provide a safe solution for those whose ears are sensitive to the intrusion of a headset/ear piece.

Similar to a drive-thru or pit-stop, whether it's personal or an emergency, these redefined Call Boxes are parking spaces off the road in which motorists are allowed to pull into and make a safe phone call.

As cellphones are becoming as common as shoes, and the times and laws are in action, change is necessary. But reactions are inevitable. The Redefining the Call Box in California concept is developing daily and can be followed on the LOOKFORSIGNS.ORG Web site.

For more information or if you would like to share a reaction to LOOKFORSIGNS.ORG’S reaction, please visit lookforsigns.org.

-END-

download press release in doc format.
download press release image (300dpi).

2008-07-09T16:21:00.000-07:00

Redefining the Call Box in California will launch July 10, 2008. It is LOOKFORSIGNS.ORG's first project and is based on the artist organization's reaction to California's new law, prohibiting cellphone use while driving a motor vehicle, 2008 Vehicle Code (Division 11, Chapter 12, Article 1, Section 23123).

Redefining the Call Box is exactly that, it redefines the term and space of the traditional Call Boxes that we see littered approximately every mile along California's highways. The concept relates both, the shortcoming obsoleteness of the current blue-sign, yellow-phone Call Box and, the new law — prohibiting cellphone calls from your vehicle. Artist brian prince felt the need to create space along our highways to make wireless phone calls, so he created the first redefined Call Box of today.

The Call Box of today will be marked with an orange sign and, on the ground in front of the marker — a painted white-line box the size of a slightly over-sized parking space. There may be multiple Call Boxes in certain turn-outs of California's highways and city streets. Each marker carries a double meaning: C.A. NEW LAW, as in California's New Law, and "See A" New Law. brian prince says it was just his reaction.

You simply pull your car into the Call Box as if you were taking a pit stop in the drive-thru, make your call, then carry on. Signs warning motorists will be posted as much as 2 miles beforehand to give the driver enough time to merge to the shoulder, as well as signs notifying the driver how many miles away the next Call Box turn-out is just in case they missed one. This creates a safer highway, pushing the distractions of a phone call to the side of the road.

For years the Call Box has been a road-side emergency phone which provides assistance to motorists in trouble, allowing them to report a road hazard, a flat tire or a mechanical breakdown. Solar panels atop a 14-foot pole recharge the batteries that power the wireless cellular telephone in each Call Box. According to Caltrans (the state Department of Transportation), unpredictable events such as stalled autos account for at least half of the congestion on highways.

With the growing population of personal cellular phones, motorists have used their own phone's in emergency situations that require assistance, reducing the use of traditional Call Boxes on highways. It's not a surprise that, as cellphones are helpful, they are also the cause of many accidents thus creating the congestion on the highways. On July 1, 2008, California passed a law prohibiting the use of a cellular phone without a hands-free headset while driving.

For those whose ears are sensitive to the intrusion of an ear piece, LOOKFORSIGNS.ORG has the solution. The redefined Call Boxes are now spaces off the road in which you are allowed to make a phone call. Whether it's personal or an emergency, these literal "boxes" that you pull your car into, are provided for motorists to make safe phone calls.

The official press release with go out on Thursday, July 10, 2008.

2008-07-06T22:06:00.000-07:00

L O O K F O R S I G N S . O R G's first project is dedicated to the following:

2008 Vehicle Code
Division 11,
Chapter 12,
Article 1
Section 23123

Hand-Held Wireless Telephone: Prohibited Use

23123. (a) A person shall not drive a motor vehicle while using a wireless telephone unless that telephone is specifically designed and configured to allow hands-free listening and talking, and is used in that manner while driving.

(b) ( ) A violation of this section is an infraction punishable by a base fine of twenty dollars ($20) for a first offense and fifty dollars ($50) for each subsequent offense.

(c) This section does not apply to a person using a wireless telephone for emergency purposes, including, but not limited to, an emergency call to a law enforcement agency, health care provider, fire department, or other emergency services agency or entity.

(d) This section does not apply to an emergency services professional using a wireless telephone while operating an authorized emergency vehicle, as defined in Section 165, in the course and scope of his or her duties.

(e) This section does not apply to a person when using a digital two-way radio that utilizes a wireless telephone that operates by depressing a push-to-talk feature and does not require immediate proximity to the ear of the user, and the person is driving one of the following vehicles:

(1) (A) A motor truck, as defined in Section 410, or a truck tractor, as defined in Section 655, that requires either a commercial class A or class B driver’s license to operate.

(B) The exemption under subparagraph (A) does not apply to a person driving a pickup truck, as defined in Section 471.

(2) An implement of husbandry that is listed or described in Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 36000) of Division 16.

(3) A farm vehicle that is exempt from registration and displays an identification plate as specified in Section 5014 and is listed in Section 36101.

(4) A commercial vehicle, as defined in Section 260, that is registered to a farmer and driven by the farmer or an employee of the farmer, and is used in conducting commercial agricultural operations, including, but not limited to, transporting agricultural products, farm machinery, or farm supplies to, or from, a farm.

(5) A tow truck, as defined in Section 615.

(f) This section does not apply to a person driving a schoolbus or transit vehicle that is subject to Section 23125.

(g) This section does not apply to a person while driving a motor vehicle on private property.

(h) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2008, and shall remain in effect only until July 1, 2011, and, as of July 1, 2011, is repealed.
Added and repealed Sec. 4, Ch. 290, Stats. 2006. Effective January 1, 2007. Operative July 1, 2008. Repeal operative July 1, 2011.
Amended Sec. 2, Ch. 214, Stats. 2007. Effective January 1, Operative July 1, 2008
The 2007 amendment added the italicized material, and at the point(s) indicated, deleted the following “Notwithstanding subdivision (a) of Section 42001 or any other provision of law, a”
NOTE: The preceding section is repealed January 1, 2011, at which time the following section becomes operative.

23123 (a) A person shall not drive a motor vehicle while using a wireless telephone unless that telephone is specifically designed and configured to allow hands-free listening and talking, and is used in that manner while driving.

(b) ( ) A violation of this section is an infraction punishable by a base fine of twenty dollars ($20) for a first offense and fifty dollars ($50) for each subsequent offense.

(c) This section does not apply to a person using a wireless telephone for emergency purposes, including, but not limited to, an emergency call to a law enforcement agency, health care provider, fire department, or other emergency services agency or entity.

(d) This section does not apply to an emergency services professional using a wireless telephone while operating an authorized emergency vehicle, as defined in Section 165, in the course and scope of his or her duties.

(e) This section does not apply to a person driving a schoolbus or transit vehicle that is subject to Section 23125.

(f) This section does not apply to a person while driving a motor vehicle on private property.

(g) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2011.
Added Sec. 5, Ch. 290, Stats. 2006. Effective January 1, 2007. Operative July 1, 2011.
Amended Sec. 3, Ch. 214, Stats. 2007. Effective January 1, 2008. Operative July 1, 2011
The 2007 amendment added the italicized material, and at the point(s) indicated, deleted the following “Notwithstanding subdivision (a) of Section 42001 or any other provision of law, a violation of this sections”