SACRAMENTO — Dick Messer likes driving around Los Angeles with Peaches, his Pomeranian, in his lap and thinks it's ridiculous that a proposal in the Capitol would make him an outlaw for doing so.
The proposal, which would prohibit drivers from carrying "live animals" on their laps behind the wheel, is one of several that would regulate who can drive, when, where and how.
"It's just nuts, the stuff legislators come up with instead of dealing with the real problems facing the state: crime, the economy, the . . . budget deficit," said Messer, director of the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.
One lawmaker wants to restrict driving by truants and high school dropouts. Another would regulate where global positioning system devices can be installed. Another wants a new state committee to study the danger that silent-running electric cars pose to blind pedestrians.
These ideas follow new laws banning computer and cellphone use by teenagers while driving, restricting adult drivers to hands-free cellphones, and barring smoking in cars when minors are present. The blitz of existing and proposed laws regulating use of the automobile, symbol of freedom, has Messer and other Californians pounding on their steering wheels.
"They want to button down our mobility," said Messer, 67, who understands the lure and lore of the auto. He owns 24, including a 1939 Plymouth and a new natural-gas-powered Honda, and oversees 300 other vehicles at the museum.
"They want to force you into public transportation," he said. "The problem is, we don't have any."
There are 33.5 million registered vehicles in California. Assemblyman Bob Huff (R-Diamond Bar) said that explained the cornucopia of car-related legislation.
"We're a state that gets around by car. We are a car culture," said Huff, who is a member of the Assembly Transportation Committee. "Couple that with legislators who think government is the answer to everything, and you end up with the perfect storm."
Assemblyman Bill Maze (R-Visalia) said he introduced the bill against lap dogs after a car passed him with two large canines hanging out a window and a third in the driver's lap.
"It's a very dangerous thing for the drivers and others," Maze said. "It's a distraction."
Maze is unfazed by national radio personality Rush Limbaugh's derision of his measure. "Talk about the land of fruits and nuts," Limbaugh told listeners recently.
