AMA’s Rx: No handheld devices for drivers

The American Medical Association — already on record against text messaging while driving — has endorsed laws that ban all forms of handheld devices for those behind the wheel.

Members called the use of handheld devices such as cell phones and texting devices “a very serious public health problem.”

“We’re very supportive of legislation to deal with this,” said AMA board member Dr. Edward Langston. “We want your hands on the steering wheel.

“A Harvard study estimates that about one in 20 traffic accidents involve a driver talking on a cell phone. By banning the use of handheld devices while driving, we can help prevent accidents and ensure the driver’s full attention is on the road.”

The AMA’s call for bans on drivers’ use of handheld devices includes cell phones, largely forgotten in the 2009 legislative rush to deal with texting by motorists.

The official position in favor of handheld cell phone laws was adopted the AMA’s semi-annual policy meeting on Nov. 10.

Last year the group of almost a quarter million physicians threw its weight behind various state efforts to ban text messaging while driving. “No one should have to worry that other drivers are focused on texting instead of traffic,” the medical association said at the time.

Fla. no longer distracted on texting, driving

Florida, one of the stumblebum states when it comes to distracted driving laws, finally appears to be waking up to the dangers of cell phoning and text messaging behind the wheel.

Republican Gov. Charlie Crist signaled the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to get behind legislation that would rein in drivers’ texting and mobile phone chatting.

“I think it would provide some safety for our people,” Crist told highway department chief Julie Jones, in a classic of understatement (according to the News Service of Florida).

The Legislature rejected or ignored all 2009 bills that would limit drivers’ use of mobile phones and text messaging devices.

“It looks to me like the state Legislature is more concerned with a healthy bottom line for cell phone companies than it is with people dying on our roads,” said a student involved in a “Stop Texting and Telephoning in Cars” campaign.

As lawmakers across the nation were acting on the menace of texing and driving, legislation seeking to save lives in Florida couldn’t get arrested — couldn’t even get a committee hearing — as the lawmakers spent their days mudwrestling over the budget.

“It’s slowly been building,” Sen. Carey Baker, another Sunshine State understater, says of distracted driving legislation. “But I think this year (2010), something’s going to pass.”

The 2010 session begins March 2. This time around, there are more than a dozen distracted driving bills and more sure to come from lawmakers seeking a free ride on the bandwagon.

One reason: Three of the bills come from candidates for statewide office, the news service points out: “Sens. Carey Baker and Paula Dockery, Republican contenders for agriculture commissioner and governor, respectively, and Sen. Dan Gelber, a Democratic candidate for attorney general.”

Crist himself is seeking a Senate seat and can use all the crossover support he can get, based on recent GOP satisfaction with the governor.

Go Gators … and go get a clue, legislators.

Read more about Florida text messaging and handheld cell phone legislation.

S.C. proposal: text & drive, go to prison

The nation’s toughest sanctions against driving and text messaging have been proposed in South Carolina.

House Bill 4189 calls for fines of up to $2,500, two months in jail and a driver’s license suspension. And that’s for the first offense.

A driver who kills someone while text messaging is looking at 25 years in prison.

The legislation would also allow law officers to seize and inspect a driver’s cell phone to if he or she was texting while driving when they were stopped. That provision, no doubt, would face opposition from civil liberties advocates.

Rep. Don Bowen, R-Anderson, on Tuesday prefiled the legislation for South Carolina’s next session. The state currently has no limits on motorists’ use of cell phones or text messaging devices, and last year’s legislative efforts regard distracted driving were unsuccessful.

Here’s what Bowen (pictured) proposes for drivers who text message while driving:

A driver who is text messaging without causing bodily injury or death would be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, faces these penalties:

• First offense: Imprisoned up to 60 days, fined up to $2,500, with a license suspension of one year. Must complete an eight-hour defensive driving course. Trial in either municipal or magistrate court.
• Second offense: Imprisoned up to 180 days, fined up to $5,000 with a license suspension of two years.
• Third or subsequent offense: Imprisoned up to three years, fined up to $10,000 with the driver’s license permanently revoked.

If bodily injury occurs as a result of driving while texting, the offender is charged with a felony and, upon conviction, would be imprisoned not less than five years and not more than 15 years.

If a death occurs as a result, the text messaging driver is charged with a felony and, upon conviction, would be imprisoned not less than 10 years and not more than 25 years.

Bowen was not immediately available but handsfreeinfo.com has requested comment from the representative.

The new term will be his second in the South Carolina Legislature. He bills himself as “Your conservative Republican choice” and has vowed not to smoke or drink while in the capital or doing legislative business.

Legislation calling for the impeachment of Gov. Mark Sanford could take up much of the Legislature’s time this next session.

Prolonged texting like DUI in Britain

The New York Times continues its welcome crusade against texting and driving with a look at a British case in which one young woman was sent to prison for killing another young woman.

Phillipa Curtis, 22, rear-ended Victoria McBryde’s broken-down yellow Fiat, killing McBryde instantly. Curtis had been texting, but not at the exact moment of the crash, the Times reported.

New British sentencing guidelines equate prolonged texting before a crash with drinking and driving, or with drag racing. The guidelines call for terms of four to seven years. Curtis received only 21 months.

The Times reports:

“Britain’s new guidelines state that using a hand-held phone when causing a death will “always make the offense more serious” in terms of punishment and lead to prison time. Texting is given special treatment. … Although most European countries and a minority of American states now ban the use of hand-held cellphones while driving, Britain has become one of the more aggressive countries in attacking the problem.”

One can only wonder how American legislators would make of the prolonged DWT concept — considering that many can’t figure out how to exempt 911 calls from hands-free legislation. Or are stumped by how police could possibly tell if a driver were texting.

Curtis, whose lenient sentence was upheld because of her “geniune remorse,” is shown in a photo accompanying the article — walking into court while having a chat on her cell phone.