The measure, however, did not succeed without controversy. The Senate heavily amended the original House proposal, limiting most enforcement to secondary status. The House went along, and House Bill 99 was sent to Gov. John Kasich, who indicated he would sign it.

The law goes into effect 90 days after Kasich’s approval. A warning period will begin at that time, with ticketing on hold for six months. The fine is $150.

Ohio most likely will take its place as the 39th state to ban texting while driving.

The Senate’s other major change to the legislation was a full ban on use of handheld electronic communications devices by drivers under the age of 18. Enforcement for teens does carry primary enforcement, with fines up to $300 and possible loss of license.

The secondary enforcement provision for adults means that police need another reason to stop and cite violators, such as weaving or speeding. Police will have to make an on-site determination if a driver appears to be under the age of 18 before making a stop.

State Reps. Rex Damschroder, R-Sandusky County, and Nancy Garland, D-New Albany, spearheaded the legislation.

Ohio’s General Assembly almost certainly has not concluded its debates over distracted driving. Similar laws passed in other states typically inspire bills calling for primary enforcement. And the new measure does not address cell phone use by adults, unless they are using the device to text.

The new law allows for stricter local laws. Cleveland, Toledo, Columbus, Delaware, Belpre, Berea and Zanesville are among the many Ohio cities that already banned texting & driving.

Cleveland is considering a ban on use of handheld cell phones by drivers.

The county that includes Cleveland (Cuyahoga) has been particularly hard hit by distracted driving accidents.

The governor’s advocacy proved to be the key to breaking the state’s long deadlock over distracted driving, with the Legislature approving his plan to outlaw text messaging and the use of handheld cell phones for those operating motor vehicles.

(Update: Tombin signed the West Virginia distracted driving legislation into law on April 3. This article originally posted March 10, 2012.)

As time expired on the legislative session late March 10, the House and Senate reached a compromise on their dueling versions of Tomblin’s bill. The Mountain State’s distracted driving law takes effect July 1.

West Virginia becomes the 36th state to ban texting & driving, once Tomblin signs his own legislation. (View the West Virginia distracted driving news page.)

Fines are $100 (first offense), then $200, then $300. Three points will be assessed against driver’s license on third and subsequent violations.

The House and Senate rewrites of Tomblin’s bill differed primarily on the matter of enforcement. The House wanted primary enforcement for both texting & handheld cell phone use, in order to help police carry out the law. The Senate version, however, had texting as a primary offense and handheld cell phone use as a secondary one.

In the end, they compromised by delaying primary enforcement of the cell phone law for a year.

And so police in West Virginia can stop and cite drivers who text as of this July 1. Handheld cell phone users cannot be stopped solely for that violation until July 1, 2013, but they can be cited in connection with other offenses, such as speeding or crossing center lines.

Legislators have gone back and forth on a handheld cell phone ban since at least 2008.

Tomblin, pictured, first proposed the plan that became Senate Bill 211 in his State of the State address in January. His measure called for secondary enforcement of both offenses, but his office signaled support for tougher enforcement throughout the legislative process.

“The texting part really takes your eyes off the road,” Tomblin told the Charleston Gazette. “That was more important, but I’m fine with what they worked out.”

A late amendment requires the state Department of Transportation to post advisory signs on highways at the state’s borders.

Outlawed activities include using smartphones to access the Internet and to play games.

In the two years following the July 2008 adoption of the distracted driving law, handheld cell phone driver deaths decreased 47 percent, the Safe Transportation Research and Education Center (SafeTREC) at the University of California, Berkeley, found.

Similar reductions occurred in the number of injuries, as well as deaths associated with cell phone use with hands-free accessories, SafeTREC said. Overall, California traffic deaths fell 22 percent in the two-year period, compared with the two years before the handheld cell phone law took effect.

“These results suggest that the law banning handheld cell phone use while driving had a positive impact on reducing traffic fatalities and injuries,” said David Ragland, director of SafeTREC.

A few widely publicized studies have questioned the effectiveness of cell phone bans. The Highway Loss Data Institute reported in early 2010 that auto insurance collision claims remained about the same in California and a few other states after they adopted bans on the use of handheld cell phones. (The study only reported on newer vehicles and did not include accidents in which no claims were made.)

The California DMV says there were 460,487 handheld cell phone convictions in 2011, up 22 percent compared with 2010 (361,260 convictions) and up 52 percent from 2009 (301,833).

“Highly visible and publicized enforcement, along with the cooperation of the motoring public to reduce distractions behind the wheel, has played a significant role in the reduction in collisions,” said California Highway Patrol Commissioner Joe Farrow.

Read the California Office of Traffic Safety news release on handheld cell phone death statistics (PDF). OTS funds SafeTREC distracted driving research and educational initiatives. OTS, created by the Legislature, exists mainly to funnel federal highway safety grants to state and local programs.

Overall, law enforcement officers wrote almost 120,000 electronic distracted driving tickets in the seven months from July 12, 2011, to Feb. 7, 2012.

Text messaging violations saw the most significant increase, to 7,495 tickets. A new state law made text messaging subject to primary enforcement, while a DMV policy added a third point against the driver’s license of electronic distracted driving violators.

The bulk of the citations since July — 111,262 — were for handheld cell phone use (and to a minor extent other non-texting uses of wireless devices). That infraction already was subject to primary enforcement.

“These tickets should send a resounding message to all drivers: Keep your eyes on the road and your hands on the wheel,” said Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who pushed through the state’s tougher distracted driving rules last summer.

New York’s distracted driving law rewrite (resulting from bills S5643 and A8106) did not increase penalties for violators — just increased the chances of their being pulled over and cited. The fine for violations remains at $150.

The state promoted the hike in texting tickets, which made sense but wasn’t an apples-to-apples comparison. (The numbers were worked up in connection with a distracted driving hearing in Albany earlier this week.)

In the 6 1/2 months before the new New York rules took effect, 2,691 tickets were issued for texting vs. the 7,495 tickets in the seven months after the get-tough actions. For the full year 2010, 3,248 tickets were issued.

Handheld cell phone ticketing appeared to be down, although the state did not compare those figures. The 111,262-ticket mark since July 2011 is not on track to top the 332,000 citations of 2010.

In New York City, 69,211 cell phone tickets were handed out since July 12. Text messaging tickets totaled 3,509. The most tickets were written in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Of the counties, Suffolk had the biggest share of cell phone tickets since July (5,355) while Erie had the most texting tickets (662).

Reps. Les Gara and Bill Thomas on Jan. 6 filed the bipartisan legislation House Bill 255, which would remove any doubt that texting and driving is illegal in Alaska.

The ambiguous wording of Alaska’s 2008 prohibition on texting & driving came back to haunt legislators when a magistrate in tiny Kenai ruled that the state needed to be more precise with the distracted driving law. The magistrate noted correctly that its wording never actually refers to “text messaging.”

Instead, Alaska Statute Section 28.35.161 created “the crime of driving with a screen device operating” under which cell phone users are exempt for purposes of “verbal communication.”

Magistrate Jennifer Wells dismissed a texting & driving case in December 2011, saying: “If the Alaska legislature wanted to prohibit texting, then it should have, and could have, clearly said so.” The state of Alaska is appealing Wells’ decision.

Magistrates in Fairbanks received instructions from a supervising judge not to enforce the law as well.

Rep. Gara, D-Anchorage, said Jan. 4: “Rather than wait for appeals, we want to send a clear message to the public, now, that texting, and typing on personal and computer devices can cause death and serious injury. The current uncertainty in the law sends a weak safety message to the public.”

Separately, Gara told the Alaska Dispatch: “We think the current law is OK, we agree with the judges that have been enforcing it. There’s a good faith disagreement among the judges (that would be resolved by clear wording).”

Several legislators from both parties will be signing on sponsors, said Gara and Thomas, R-Haines. Rep. Max Gruenberg, D-Anchorage, and at least one other House Republican will be prime sponsors, they said.

Several distracted driving bills are pending in the Alaska 2011-2012 legislative session, but they’re given little chance of succeeding. The Gara-Thomas legislation is deliberately distanced from those bills — some include cell phone provisions — to ensure quick passage, the sponsors said.

(originally posted Jan. 5 and updated with the bill filing Jan. 6)

View the Alaska distracted driving news page.

The year saw significant progress in the legislative war on against distracted driving.

While some state laws prohibiting use of handheld cell phones took effect, most of the success came with bans of text messaging while driving.

Here’s a recap of the big distracted driving stories of 2011:

New year, new laws (Jan. 1-2): Three states — Delaware, Kentucky and Kansas — see their new distracted driving laws take full effect as 2011 arrives.

Remembering Heather (Jan. 5): A stretch of Florida’s U.S. 27 is named in the memory of texting & driving driving victim Heather Hurd. State lawmakers then spend the rest of the year ignoring “Heather’s Law” and related distracted driving legislation. The Department of Transportation features Hurd and other victims in a its new Faces of Distracted Driving series.

Multimedia cars on parade (Jan. 8): The big Consumer Electronics Show confirms that automakers are quickening the pace toward making vehicles hubs of electronic information and entertainment. Toyota and Hyundai unveiled new wireless communications and data systems. Ford rolled out an electric car, with “wireless-connected vehicle services.” GM’s OnStar plugged its app that reads text messages and checks for Facebook updates.

N.Y. makes 2 points (Feb. 11): New York’s DMV assesses 2 points against the driver’s license of handheld cell phone violators. The points already were being charged against text messaging drivers. The governor thinks that’s still not enough of a deterrent and takes action in the summer.

April’s the month: Distracted Driving Awareness Month debuts with the support of safety advocates, law enforcement agencies and the U.S. DOT. Former U.S. Rep. Betsy Markey helped make the designation official last year.

Distracted summit sequel (April 21): “I can’t think of another safety issue in American history that’s gained so much traction in such a short period of time,” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood tells the Illinois Distracted Driving Summit. LaHood, left, cites “tremendous grassroots groundswell against distracted driving.”

No. 31, North Dakota (April 26): Gov. Jack Dalrymple approves legislation that bans all texting while driving. He also OKs a ban on electronic communications device use by teen drivers. North Dakota became the 31st state to ban text messaging while behind the wheel.

No. 32, Indiana (May 11): Gov. Mitch Daniels enacts a law banning text messaging while driving, with fines up to $500. The new law essentially expands the state statute against teen texting to all drivers, with primary enforcement. Indiana became the 32nd state to outlaw texting & driving.

Ticket swarm in Golden State (April): In California, what is called the nation’s largest campaign against distracted driving results in more than 53,000 citations during April. The “zero tolerance” sweep involves 103 CHP offices, and more than 280 local and regional law enforcement agencies.

No. 33, Maine (June 3): Gov. Paul LePage OKs safety legislation that specifically bans texting while driving as a primary offense. A general distracted driving law went into effect in 2009, but its author Sen. Bill Diamond returned with the new texting measure that “deals better with the cause of the problem.” Maine became the 33rd state to ban texting while driving.

“Intrusion” in Texas (June 17): Gov. Rick Perry vetoes safety legislation that would have banned texting while driving in Texas. He calls House Bill 242 an “intrusion” and a “government effort to micromanage the behavior of adults.” A month later, the Republican announces he’s running for president.

No. 34, Nevada: Gov. Brian Sandoval signs off on legislation banning handheld cell phone use and text messaging for all drivers. Fines are $50 then $100 and then $250. Maine became the 34th state to ban texting & driving.

N.Y. gets tougher (July 12): Gov. Andrew Cuomo signs into law a plan to make texting while driving a primary offense. He immediately follows up the action by ordering the DMV to assess a third point against the drivers licenses of texting and handheld cell phone violators. Use of handheld cell phones already carried primary status in New York.

Smith exits (July 13): Jennifer Smith, the high-profile president of FocusDriven, steps down from her post at the the distracted driving victims advocacy group. She’s no longer listed as a board member.

Brown-out (Sept. 6): California Gov. Jerry Brown vetoes a plan to double fines for distracted driving violations, saying he was not interested in overburdening “people of ordinary means.” Senate Bill 28 also would have applied the ban on hands-free electronic device use to bicyclists. State Sen. Joe Simitian says the veto of his bill results in “a lost opportunity to save more lives.”

No. 35, Pennsylvania (Nov. 9): Gov. Tom Corbett signs off on legislation that bans texting while behind the wheel. The original Senate bill called for a ban on handheld cell phone use as well, but the provision was removed by House Republican leaders. Pennsylvania became the 35th state to outlaw texting while behind the wheel. The law takes effect in March 2012. Enforcement is primary, with $50 fines.

Two-handed truckers (Nov. 23): Interstate truck drivers who use handheld cell phones face fines of up to $2,750 under a final rule issued by the DOT. After two violations of the rule, drivers would lose their licenses at the state level. The handheld device ban also applies to bus drivers. The ban affects about 4 million commercial drivers.

“Distraction-affected crashes” (Dec. 8): The NHTSA changes its way of tracking distracted driving accidents, resulting in a significantly lower number of deaths reported for 2010. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration dubs the revamped category “distraction-affected crashes,” with the focus on cell phone use and text messaging. The result: 3,092 people died in distracted driving incidents, down significantly from 2009′s 5,474 fatalities. The DOT says the lower number doesn’t indicate progress: “All of our evidence suggests that the problem may actually be getting worse.”

NTSB seeks total ban (Dec. 13-21): Saying, “It is time for all of us to stand up for safety by turning off electronic devices when driving,” the National Transportation Safety Board calls for a nationwide ban on drivers’ use of portable handheld electronic devices. A week later, DOT chief Ray LaHood publicly distances himself from the NTSB plan, saying, “The problem is not hands-free (use of electronic devices).” The year ends with massive media coverage of the issue.

Read the full stories in Hands Free Info’s Distracted Driving News section.

Copyright 2011 Glenn Abel.

“The more than 800 tickets issued in just five days further demonstrates the need for these stricter laws which focus on drivers who put others at risk by illegally using a hand-held device,” the New York governor said after the ticket tally.

The statewide distracted driving sweep “Operation Hang-Up” ran Nov. 23-27. State Police said about 330 of the texting tickets came as a result of that crackdown. The other ticketing came via regular enforcement of the state’s texting and cell phone use laws, which yields about 1,000 tickets a month.

Cuomo targeted distracted driving last summer (pictured), signing off on the Legislature’s plan to make texting (and use of various handheld electronic devices) while driving a primary offense. Cell phone use already was subject to primary enforcement in New York.

At the same time, Cuomo ordered the DMV to assess a third point against the drivers licenses of texting and cell phone violators.

The statewide number of texting-while-driving tickets increased from an average of 429 per month to 1,000 in the wake of primary enforcement.

The Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee funded Operation Hang-Up via a grant from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Several state traffic officials said the New York distracted driving sweeps would continue thanks to the federal grant.

“Using a hand-held device while operating a motor vehicle is illegal, and through future enforcement campaigns we will continue to make sure our roadways are safe for all New Yorkers,” said Barbara Fiala, commissioner of the DMV.

The New York holiday ticket sweep was announced Nov. 17.

• Prohibits as a primary offense all drivers from using an Interactive Wireless Communication Device (IWCD) to send, read or write a text-based message.
• Defines an IWCD as a wireless phone, personal digital assistant, smart phone, portable or mobile computer or similar devices that can be used for texting, instant messaging, emailing or browsing the Internet.
• Defines a text-based message as a text message, instant message, email or other written communication composed or received on an IWCD.
• Institutes a $50 fine for convictions under this section.
• Makes clear that this law supersedes and preempts any local ordinances
  restricting the use of interactive wireless devices by drivers.

The law takes effect in early March 2012.

Source: Pennsylvania Office of the Governor

Nevada’s ban on text messaging and using handheld cell phones will driving officially went into effect Saturday, Oct. 1. Violators won’t be punished for the next three months, though, as law officers are only issuing warnings until Jan. 1. Then it’s on to fines that start at $50 and go to $250.

In Maryland, legislators have completed their clean-up of the existing texting while driving law. As of Oct. 1, “reading” of text messages is illegal while driving in Maine. Previously, only the writing and sending of text messages (and email) were illegal. Also, the earlier state law allowed for texting at red lights, but that loophole too has been closed. Fines run between $40 and $100.

And Maine’s new law against texting while driving went into effect Sept. 28. At least, the reading and writing of text messages (and email). The sending of messages, curiously, remains legal. Tickets are now being written and fines start at a minimum $100.

Nevada became the 34th state to ban texting while driving.

Read more:

• Nevada’s new distracted driving laws
• Maryland’s changes to its texting ban
• Maine’s text messaging laws

The legislation was Senate Bill 28, approved by the state House and Senate, and sent to Gov. Jerry Brown on Aug. 15.

The bill’s author, Sen. Joe Simitian, said the veto resulted in “a lost opportunity to save more lives.”

Brown wrote in his veto message: “For people of ordinary means, current fines and penalty assessments should be sufficient deterrent.”

Under the Simitian plan, fines for using handheld cell phones or text messaging while driving would have increased to $50 (first offense) and $100.

In addition, a point would have been charged against the driver’s license on second and subsequent offenses. A first offense would have cost violators about $310 after court costs. Repeat offenses would have hit $528, plus the point.

The distracted driving law revisions also would have extended prohibitions against hands-free electronic device use to bicyclists.

Simitian, D-Palo Alto, said he would “review the governor’s veto message to see if there is any room for compromise in the coming year (2012).” No wiggle room was apparent in Brown’s short rejection of SB 28.

Simitian’s SB 28 was a reprise of his 2010 plan to more than double fines for distracted driving violations. That plan failed to cleared the Legislature, and the senator rewrote the legislation. The points provision also was watered down during SB 28′s journey through the 2011 Legislature in order to make it more palatable to lawmakers.

“I’m disappointed,” Simitian said in a post-veto press release, “but the governor gets the last word. I understand and accept that. My job now is to figure out where do we go from here.”

Simitian has been the point person on California’s distracted driving laws, among the earliest and most comprehensive in the nation.

Of his attempts to toughen the laws, Simitian said: “While the numbers show that compliance is good and that California’s hands-free law is working, we can do better and save even more lives,” said Simitian, following the bill’s passage.

Brown said: “I certainly support discouraging cell phone use while driving a car, but not ratcheting up the penalties as prescribed by this bill.”

• View the California distracted driving law page.
• View the governor’s veto message.
• View Sen. Simitian’s press release following SB 28 veto.
• Read the SB 28 passage press release.