Starting in July, don’t even think about holding your cell phone to your ear to talk while driving. That officially will be against a new California law that goes into effect on the first of that month.

You can use your cell phone’s speaker, buy a head set or get a Bluetooth car speaker so you can chat and cruise hands free. (Note: If you’re under 18, you won’t even be allowed talk hands free while driving!)

But if you’re too cheap to buy a gadget and get caught on the phone while en route, you’ll qualify for a free handset from Headsets.com, a site that sells phone headsets.

The San Francisco company will give you a free headset if you send them a copy of your traffic citation. This applies to anyone in the states with hands-free laws, including Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and the District of Columbia. Both California and Washington start their laws in July.

Sounds like a reward for annoying behavior, to me. But the company says it’s promotion is “to encourage people to change their driving behavior.”

(A side note: Headsets.com ends up going to hs.zappos.com. I’m not sure why it’s linked to online shoe store Zappos.com and there is no explanation on its “About Us” page. If I get an explanation, I’ll post update the post.)

I’m all for hands-free drives but I don’t suggest getting a ticket just to take Handsets up on its offer. You’ll probably end up with a $20 headset, which is the same fee for the first ticket in California. Subsequent convictions are $50 each. There’s also additional penalties, which can triple the base amount, according to the state’s DMV.

Related stories:

• New cell-phone law could cost business big time
• Editorial: Getting slapped by hands-free law
• New laws for motorists go into effect this year
• Cell phone use banned for teens in California

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