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Airline passengers in New York will no longer be quite so annoyed if they’re stuck sitting in an airplane on the runway. A new law ensures passengers will have food, water, fresh air, and bathrooms if a plane is waiting on the ground for more than three hours.
Nathan Cohn, 19, often flies between his home in New York and Los Angeles, where he is a college freshman. Nathan likes the new law, which came about after travelers experienced delays of more than 10 hours in New York in February 2007. “I think it's only fair for an airline putting passengers through that kind of stress… to make the passengers comfortable,” Nathan says. “After all, [the passengers are] all paying to be on the plane.”
In Oregon and Washington, drivers must busy their thumbs on their steering wheels instead of their phones. Text messaging is now illegal while driving in these states. Cassandra Collison, 18, says it’s scary to drive with text messagers. “They’re looking at the phone and not at the road, swerving all over the place.” Still, the Tacoma, Wash., high school senior admits she’s texted “twice” while driving. “I hope people pay attention to the new law,” Cassandra says. “I know I will.”
If you live in California and you’re under 18, no one may smoke in a car with you, according to a new law.
Smokers also have new restrictions in Illinois. December 31, 2007, was the last day that smokers could light up in restaurants and public buildings. As of January 1, 2008, those areas are strictly smoke-free. “It is a good law,” says Kelsey Lannert, 18, of Antioch, Ill. She notes that the law benefits people who work in restaurants, who now won’t have to breathe secondhand smoke. “America is going toward losing weight and being healthier,” Kelsey adds. “It’s a good way to push [smokers] toward quitting.”
Do you live in Minnesota? If you buy an American flag there, that flag will now have to be manufactured in the United States. It’s the law!
Why do so many new laws begin on January 1? It’s not just because states want to turn over a new leaf in a new year. It’s simply part of the legislative process. “Laws go into effect on different days in different states,” says Meagan Dorsch, a spokesperson for the National Conference of State Legislatures. “Sometimes it is written into the state constitution.” For example, all California laws go into effect on January 1.
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