Wash. state gets primary enforcement
March 8, 2010
One of 2010’s fiercest legislative battles over distracted driving raged in Washington — a state that already has banned handheld cell phone use and texting by drivers.
On Thursday night, the civil war ended as the House agreed with the Senate that the state’s bans on text messaging and handheld cell phone use should be toughened. The plan now goes to the governor, who has indicated he would sign it.
“I’ve fought for this for 10 years, and sometimes I thought this day would never come,” said Sen. Tracey Eide, the bill’s sponsor. “Maybe now people will pay attention to their driving instead of their conversations.”
Eide, D-Federal Way, on Saturday led the Senate in rejecting the House’s attempt to water down her legislation that would elevate distracted driving offenses to “primary enforcement.”
The day before, the Seattle Times called representatives “a House of wimps,” adding: “this gutless group failed to approve meaningful legislation to combat this dangerous practice.”
Rep. Dan Roach, R-Bonney Lake, has been called out by several newspapers for his efforts to derail tougher distracted driving laws.
Meanwhile, in Iowa, the House and Senate have gone down different roads as well. The House approved a ban on text messaging for all drivers several weeks ago — and the Senate concurred — but on Monday representatives downshifted the legislation into a prohibition of handheld electronics devices that only applies to teen drivers.
(background below — material above updated on March 12.)
The Washington state standoff could continue if the House again sends watered-down legislation back to the Senate. The issue also could go to a joint committee that would seek some kind of compromise — although there is no obvious middle ground between the two types of enforcement.
“It is a long way from being done,” Eide told the Seattle TImes.
Secondary enforcement is a common way of weakening legislation designed to halt texting and cell phoning while behind the wheel. It’s been used across the nation for compromise bills and for amendments tacked onto stronger bills. While primary enforcement empowers law officers to stop and cite offenders as they would for most moving violations, secondary enforcement means police need another reason to stop offenders before issuing the ticket.
The state Senate voted Feb. 5 to toughen Washington’s law against texting and the use of handheld cell phones
The House agreed with most of the bill, but on March 3 rejected its call for primary enforcement for adult cell phone violations.
The Senate then rejected the House changes in a Saturday session, on March 6.
N.Y. governor: Toughen texting law
February 24, 2010
New York Gov. David Paterson wants to “take the handcuffs off” when it comes to texting and driving.
He’s proposed legislation in the Senate that would upgrade enforcement of the state’s 2008 texting law from “secondary” to “primary.” That means law officers can stop and cite text-messaging drivers for that reason alone.
“This bill will take the handcuffs off our law enforcement officers and make our highways safer by allowing officers to observe a violation and immediately issue a summons,” Paterson said in a statement on SB 222 Wednesday.
The state reports that about 200 tickets have been written since last November, when New York’s texting while driving law took effect.
Secondary enforcement — usually the result of a fallback position adopted by legislators seeking distracted driving laws — has come under increasing fire from safety groups. In Washington state, the Senate has OK’d a plan to hike its texting while driving law from secondary to primary enforcement.
New York counties and cities have continued to adopt local texting bans because of the secondary provision at the state level. “New York State’s law doesn’t have any teeth,” an Erie County lawmaker said as he pushed through a regional texting plan.
Assembly Transportation Committee Chairman David Gantt, D-Rochester, who long resisted efforts to get a text messaging law in place, said he would review the legislation.
New York was a leader in cell-phone restrictions on drivers, passing its widely copied hands-free law in 2001. Text-messaging legislation gained enough momentum to get past Gantt after an upstate crash killed five teens.
The fine for text messaging and driving in New York state is $150.
Simitian defends California cell phone ban
February 19, 2010
California state Sen. Joe Simitian has heard enough about cell phone bans not working.
Simitian came out in defense of his ban on drivers’ use of handheld cell phones, armed with California Highway Patrol data. “A lot of folks are sitting down to dinner with their families every day, who might otherwise not have made it,” he said.
CHP numbers show a 20 percent reduction in fatalities and collisions in the six months following implementation of that California cell phone ban. The bill was signed into law in 2006 and went into effect on July. 1, 2008.
Simitian said 2009 was equally successful, based on preliminary numbers: “That translates to at least 700 fewer fatalities and 75,000 to 100,000 fewer collisions each year.”
He said CHP numbers also showed “an immediate drop” of 40 percent to 50 percent in accidents blamed on cell phone use.
A widely cited (and criticized) insurance industry study found “no notable change was apparent coincident with enactment of the state’s hand-held cellphone ban.” Researchers from the Highway Loss Data Institute looked at data from insurance collision claims of vehicles under 3 years old and did not include accidents in which claims were not submitted.
Simitian has called the release of the study’s findings “largely a nonevent” due to the limits of its data. The publicity generated by the HLDI study most likely inspired Simitian’s release of the CHP figures.
California’s number of cell phone subscriptions and the number of drivers have increased significantly over the period, his July 17 press release stated, making the data “doubly compelling.”
“We’ve been able to reduce the number of deaths and crashes even as we’ve seen more drivers and more cell phones out on the highway.”
Simitian also authored the 2008 legislation that banned text messaging while driving on California’s roads and highways.
New year, new distracted driving laws
January 4, 2010
A handful of distracted driving laws went into effect on Jan. 1, 2010, seeking to rein in drivers who yap on cell phones and send text messages while behind the wheel.
The vast majority of distracted driving legislation went nowhere in 2009 — surprising for a year in which so much publicity was generated over the issue — but a handful of states got past the debates and took their safety concerns to the streets.
The focus now moves from the legislatures to the law enforcement agencies, where enforcement could be spotty.
- In Illinois, text messaging is now illegal for all drivers. Fines are $75. House Bill 72 was signed into law on Aug. 6. The state also banned drivers from using cell phones in school speed zones and construction/road maintenance zones.
- In New Hampshire, text messaging has been outlawed for all drivers. “It is clear that texting while driving poses a serious danger on our roadways,” Gov. John Lynch said as he approved the anti-texting legislation House Bill 34. Fines are $100.
- In Kansas, drivers with restricted (learning) licenses cannot use cell phones or texting devices. This is the state’s first restriction on mobile phone use (HB 2143)
- In Oregon, drivers are not be allowed to text message and cell phone use will be limited to adult motorists using hands-free attachments. Tickets are pegged at $142.
In Canada, two provinces got in line with the nationwide distracted driving trend:
- In British Columbia, drivers still have a month before getting tickets for using a handheld cell phone or text messaging while driving. After that, the tickets will cost $167.
- In Saskatchewan, the use of cell phones without a hands-free device or texting will cost drivers $280 and points.
- The Big Island of Hawaii has outlawed the use of handheld cell phones while behind the wheel. Violations will cost up to $150. Drivers causing accidents while using a mobile electronic device while driving on the Big Island are subject to $500 fines.
- Austin has prohibited use of Internet-related activities while driving, such as texting, Tweeting, using iPhone applications and visiting web sites. The ban went into effect Jan. 1, but enforcement begins Feb. 1 in the form of $500 tickets.
- 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.
And a handful of regional bans also swung into action, including:
Colorado, N. Carolina texting bans in effect
December 1, 2009
Texting while driving is illegal in Colorado and North Carolina, as of now.
The North Carolina ban prohibits all drivers from text messaging and emailing. The law calls for a $100 fine plus court costs, but no points for the infractions.
The legislation was signed by Gov. Bev Perdue in mid-June.
About two-thirds of North Carolina adults reportedly approve of bans on use of cell phones while driving, but legislation outlawing motorists’ use of handheld cell phones was put on hold in 2009 after a poor reception in the Commerce Committee.
Violations by school bus drivers will be treated as misdemeanors with fines “no less than” $100.
Fines for violating Colorado’s new texting law are $50 for the first offense and $100 thereafter. Violations of the law are primary offenses.
Drivers under 18 also are prohibited from using cell phones as well as text messaging.
Colorado’s ban started out as legislation that would have also prohibited the use of handheld cell phones. The bill was approved by the House after wrenching testimony from a mother who lost her 9-year-old to a cell phone-related accident. The legislation, however, was watered down in the Senate to include only bans on text messaging and cell phoning by teen drivers.
The weakened legislation was signed by Gov. Bill Ritter on June 1, 2009, and went into effect six months later. Ritter signed the text-messaging ban in Fort Collins, home of 9-year-old Erica Forney, who was killed by a texting driver.
“The convenience of having a cell phone in a car is not worth my daughter’s life,” Erica’s mother told legislators.
Police and sheriff’s deputies in both states have expressed concerns over enforcing the text messaging bans, with the sheriff of Boulder, Colo., flat out saying he would not tell officers to pull over violators. Denver’s police department said it would be enforcing the law.
S.C. proposal: text & drive, go to prison
November 18, 2009
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:
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.
Rhode Island outlaws text messaging
October 31, 2009
In 2001, Rhode Island’s General Assembly passed Peter Kilmartin’s bill banning handheld cell phones.
It was to be one of the first laws in the United States protecting citizens from drivers who were distracted by their cell phones. The governor vetoed the legislation.
Almost a decade later, Rhode Island finally sent another governor a distracted driver law, but this one was signed into law on Nov. 10. But the law outlaws reading, writing and sending text messages while behind the wheel — not the use of cell phones.
The sponsor? Rep. Peter Kilmartin, D-Pawtucket.
“I realize this is a 10-year effort, and if we can get the most egregious offense out of the way at this time I’m happy doing this,” Kilmartin said after the Oct. 29 vote in the state House that sent the plan to the governor.
The House’s debate on the texting ban included criticisms that the bill did not go far enough and ban cell phone use by drivers.
Kilmartin, a former policeman, was almost hit by a driver using a handheld electronic device a decade ago.
The Rhode Island texting ban become effective immediately. The state Department of Transportation already is preparing signage that would help unaware drivers avoid fines of $85 to $125.
N.Y. legislator snubs mom of texting fatality
May 21, 2009
The chairman of the Transportation Committee in New York’s Assembly has been previously cited as an impediment to texting and handheld cell phone bans for drivers. Now, the gloves are off.
(Update: Gantt’s driver safety bill that includes a ban on New York State text messaging while driving cleared the Assembly on June 17 and was sent to the Senate.)
Assemblyman David Gantt infuriated some legislators Tuesday as he refused to meet with the mother whose son died as he was texting and driving. Kelly Cline was in Albany to lobby for a bill that would ban text messaging behind the wheel. She was told she could only meet with Gantt’s staff.
“It’s amazing . . . to hear about a chairman who doesn’t meet with people, since I am a chairman and I meet with everybody,” said Assemblyman Felix Ortiz, whose distracted-driving legislation efforts have been thwarted by the Gantt’s committee for several years.
Ortiz said Gantt’s resistance was “the biggest trouble now. He’s holding the bill.” Both Ortiz and Gantt are Democrats. Ganntt declined to comment to the Buffalo News in a story about the text messaging legislation.
Gantt has long been under fire for stalling other New York driver-safety legislation. A father whose teen daughter died in a drag-racing crash said: “We need to let people know who is standing in the way, like Gantt.” The New York Times called for his replacement over opposition to red-light cameras.
Ortiz said the committee could be forced into voting on the current text messaging legislation (A2453) “because we’re getting tired of the same song and the same music” from Gantt.
Gantt, not one to shy from confrontation, was arrested last year in a public ruckus over selection of a Monroe County public defender.
The Buffalo News headlined an editorial about Gantt: “Imbecilic, Inhumane, Incredible.” The opinion piece said Gantt “is nothing if not predictable in his utter illogic when it comes to certain pieces of legislation that have already gained widespread support. … Now he has the dubious distinction of being the single member of the Assembly to put a halt to legislation banning text messaging while driving. ”
New York has outlawed handheld cell phones for drivers, but text messaging was not an issue in 2001, when that law was enacted. Numerous New York cities and counties banned text messaging while driving — or are considering bans — because of the curious inactivity in Albany.
Illinois texting bill gets final OK
May 19, 2009
Illinois Rep. John D’Amico predicted early in the legislative season that distracted-driving legislation would get “a lot of traction” this year. He was right.
D’Amico’s HB 71 and HB 72 have been approved by the House and Senate, with the Senate’s vote coming May 19. Both bills were given final approval in the House on May 28 and sent to Gov. Pat Quinn.
Illinois House Bill 71 seeks to ban text messaging while driving. In an unusual provision, texting would be permitted if the vehicle is stopped in traffic. The earlier approval by the Illinois House came on on April 1. The votes were 89-27 in the House and 45-6 in the Senate.
D’Amico’s Illinois House Bill 72 would outlaw drivers’ use of cell phones in school speed zones and in road construction zones. The House approved that bill as well on April 1.
“I think this is one small step toward eventually banning hand-held cell phones like they do in Chicago, I think that’s where we’re going,” D’Amico, D-Chicago, told the Chicago Tribune.
Illinois has a statewide ban on teenage drivers’ use of cell phones, regardless of whether a hands-free attachment is employed. There is no Illinois ban on handheld cell phones for all drivers. Chicago banned on-the-road use of cell phones in 2005 and text messaging by drivers in 2008. The Windy City recently upped fines for violators.
Tennessee outlaws texting while driving
May 15, 2009
Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen has signed into law a ban on text messaging while driving, as expected.
Enforcement will begin July 1.
The Tennessee ban on text messaging while driving comes with a $50 fine for violators and $10 court costs. It is a non-moving offense, meaning no points are added to the driver’s license and there are no insurance problems.
Enforcement is expected to come into play when drivers commit other violations or get into accidents, law enforcement agencies indicated after the May 13 signing.
The Senate bill went through a lot of push-and-pull before crossing the desk of Gov. Bredesen (pictured). Sen. Jim Tracy, R-Shelbyville, was the sponsor.
A similar House bill was folded into the successful Senate bill. In committee, Rep. John Lundberg, R-Bristol, was grilled about his texting bill HB 107.
A fellow Republican asked why he was singling out texting while driving as opposed to, say, “eating a bowl of chili or a cheeseburger.”
“Frankly 90-some percent of us don’t have a hamburger strapped and attached to our waist,” Lundberg replied.
SB 393 was finally approved by the Senate in a 22-6 vote on April 23 and then by the House on April 27, with amendments. Senators OK’d the final texting bill on April 30.
Tracy’s previous attempt died in a subcommittee last year.