According to USA Today, states like Texas and New York are considering issuing fines to people who are driving with portable electronics in the car. Many states already ban the use of handheld devices, but they allow you to still chatter away on your phone via a Bluetooth handsfree speaker, for example. The new laws would take this several steps further, giving officers the ability to give a ticket — ranging from $50 to $600 for offenses — for having an iPod in your hand or a laptop by your side.

Obviously, electronics makers can’t possibly be happy if this were to go through, because it would seriously hurt the sales of in-car DVD entertainment systems, GPS navigation systems, iPod integration kits, and all the other electronic gizmos that we love to include in our cars. In many states, it is already illegal to watch DVD movies in the front seat, but I still see people doing that all the time.

Fewer distractions means fewer accidents, right? Or is this just infringing on our ability to express ourselves as techie-loving geeks?