Alabama: Cell phone laws, legislation

Latest driver safety legislation news: A ban on text messaging while driving has been approved by the Alabama House (Jan. 19, 2010). The Senate version, however, appears to be dead for the year. The state hosted the nation’s first statewide summit on distracted driving in December.

Current prohibitions:
None.

2010 cell phone, texting legislation:
Alabama House Bill 35: Would ban text messaging and use of handheld GPS devices while driving on Alabama’s highways and roads. Fines of $25 (first offense) then $50 and $75, plus court costs and a point. Calls for primary enforcement, meaning police and deputies may pull over drivers when a violation of the law is suspected. Approved Jan. 13 by the public safety committee. Approved by the Alabama House on Jan. 19. (McClendon)

SB 196: Would outlaw drivers’ use of text messaging devices and mobile GPS units. Primary enforcement. Fines $25/$50/$75. Appears dead in Senate Judiciary Committee. (Waggoner)

2010 legislation notes:
Rep. Jim McClendon, R-Springville, saw his HB 35 approved by the full House in a 95-3 vote. It goes to the Senate, but is not expected to advance there.

Sen. Jabo Waggoner, R-Vestavia Hills, attempted to sub McClendon’s bill for his own during debate in the Senate Judiciary Committee, but the chairman set aside the plan due to member disagreements over the primary status for enforcement. “I don’t understand anybody being against it,” Waggoner said. “To me, it is a no-brainer.”

The biggest obstacle to getting the bill out of committee in the Senate appears to be President Pro Tem Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, the TimesDaily reported Feb. 7, 2010. Smitherman says primary enforcement invites racial profiling by law officers.

McClendon had texting and handheld cell phone bills debated in the House and Senate in 2009. His HB 157 was approved in the House but failed in the Senate. “Fatalities on our highways are simple enough to prevent,” McClendon said. “If you don’t use seat belts, you put yourself at risk. When you text message, you put everybody at risk.”

The Associated Press polled Alabama state legislators and found that 84 percent of House members approved the bill, and 79% of senators wanted to see it pass (most but not all legislators responded to the pollsters). The same poll taken last year produced similar numbers (below).

A coalition of state and federal transportation officials have vowed to see through Alabama legislation banning drivers’ use of cell phones and texting devices. They gathered at the Alabama Distracted Driving Summit in Birmingham on Dec. 4, 2009. The summit was co-sponsored by the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s University Transportation Center and the University Transportation Center for Alabama.

Ray LaHood, secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, delivered the Distracted Driving Summit keynote. “There are proven strategies we can use to help combat this epidemic, but it will also take leadership and coordination to protect our communities and the traveling public. … (This summit) — the first of its kind outside Washington — helps continue the national conversation on distracted driving and will put more good ideas on the table to prevent needless deaths. I hope other states will follow its lead.”

“Secretary LaHood issued a challenge to the states to move quickly to address the issues of distracted driving,” said Russ Fine, director of the UAB Transportation Center. “Alabama’s response has been gratifying, as this summit has brought together leaders in state government, transportation safety, science, law enforcement and public policy to begin that process and provide a safer driving environment for all Alabamians.”

2009 legislation:
HB 157 would ban drivers from text messaging. Approved by House.

HB 282 seeks to restrict young drivers from using any “audio” hands-free or hand-held device that is not required for operation of the vehicle. Applies to drivers 16 years old or younger, or 17 years old who have been driving for less than six months.

Legislation notes:
Rep. Jim McClendo saw his text messaging bill clear the House in February 2009 but run into opposition in the Senate from Sen. Vivian Figures, D-Mobile, who wanted to water down the bill. “(The legislation) prohibits, writing, sending or reading text message while operating motor vehicle,” McClendon said in late April. “She wants to delete those words.”

McClendon’s bill to ban handheld cell phone use by drivers, HB 158, was defeated on a 5-3 vote. McClendon said he was pleased to get one of the driving safety bills through committee.

McClendon’s text messaging bill sought penalties starting at $25 and three points up to a 60-day suspension of the driver’s license after a fourth conviction.

Texting poll: An Associated Press poll taken during January shows that Alabama legislators are solidly in favor of a text-messaging law:

81 percent of House members responding said they would support a ban on text messaging while driving, while just 1 percent were opposed and 18 percent said they were undecided. In the Senate, 77 percent of respondents said they would support the bill, while 10 percent were opposed and 13 percent undecided.

Rep. McClendon, who heads a state safety committee, introduced HB 17, the 2008 bill banning drivers under 18 from using cell phones. * McClendon told Hands-Free Info that the legislative session ended with the bill stuck in committee, “blocked by chairman of rules Ken Guin, D-Walker County.” Greenhill said of the teen-targeted legislation: “The bill should address everyone or no one.”

HB 17 was endorsed by the Birmingham News: “Alabama legislators should place more restrictions on teen drivers, including a ban on their use of cell phones while behind the wheel. … No, it’s not good for any of us to be gabbing on cell phones when we’re steering a deadly weapon. But it’s certainly not good for inexperienced drivers to be doing so or, worse, to be sending text messages.”