New Jersey (added several bills, including reckless driving plan)
West Virginia (governor’s texting/cell phone bill upgraded)
Missouri (added several texting and DD bills)
Ohio (bleak prospects for texting bill)
Illinois (2011 totals for distracted driving tickets)

(“Recent updates” are listed daily on the right side of all editorial pages.)

A Northern California TV station reports that some area parents are buying their teenagers vehicles with stick shifts in order to keep the kids’ hands off cell phones.

Sacramento News10 interviewed a 17-year-old who says that while many of her friends text and drive, “With a stick shift, I can’t really check my phone,” she said. Her parents bought her a Honda Civic.

Stick shifts have largely disappeared in the U.S., with about 5.5 percent of current sales, the report says. (In 1985, the percentage of stick shifts was about 23 percent.) Manual transmissions remain common overseas, however.

A week after that federal ban on handheld cell phone use went into effect, the trucking industry seems to have the issue in its rear-view mirror. But some truckers still want to know why professional drivers are being singled out.

“I am so tired of hearing, ‘The feds can’t do anything with four-wheelers,’” one pro wrote in an industry forum. “If they’re gonna travel the same roads I do, they can follow the same laws.”

Lyndon Finney, editor of the industry publication the Trucker, told Hands Free Info: “Truckers are concerned, of course, about the use of cell phones by passenger vehicle drivers since data show that about 75 percent of truck-related accidents are caused by the action of the passenger vehicle driver.”

Another forum complaint went: “There needs to be a ban on everyone to ensure fair and equal treatment and application of the law. Come on, lawsuits.”

And: “This is the stuff shutdowns are made of.”

Cell phone use by the public remains legal in most of the U.S., but nine states have banned handheld use. In California, for instance, a motorist who was a first offender would be fined $20 (plus fees). Interstate commercial truck drivers now face fines of up to $2,750 for each offense. “(That) puts me in bankruptcy,” one trucker said.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which made the trucking rule, does not have officers out writing tickets, so enforcement will be dependent on state and local authorities, who may or may not have local laws against cell phone use. A few states such as Missouri gave notice that they would be enforcing the federal trucking law.

The ruling does not apply to all commercial drivers. The regulation targets drivers of large commercial vehicles involved in interstate commerce, and those hauling dangerous materials. A small-business delivery vehicle, for example, wouldn’t be included. (Read the commercial trucking cell phone rules.)

“When drivers of large trucks, buses and hazardous materials take their eyes off the road for even a few seconds, the outcome can be deadly,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. He said he hopes the rule will result in drivers being “laser-focused on safety at all times while behind the wheel.” 

For most of the industry, though, it was business as usual when the federal rule went into effect with the new year.

The American Trucking Association, for instance, supports the federal action.

“The trucking industry in general favors the ban on use of hand-held cell phones while the truck is in motion, and probably is divided equally on the issue of a ban of the use of hands-free devices,” industry journalist Finney said.

Many large commercial companies already have policies against cell phone use by their drivers, including UPS and Wal-Mart.

“It’s a regulation, in an industry full of regulations,” one trucker shrugged.

Driver Ray Nickels of Marshfield, Mo., said: “Were an altogether different species. It’s just something we have to learn to live with. We will be treated differently than anybody else because we are professionals and we are under a microscope all the time because we are the biggest ones out there. When something goes wrong, we are usually the ones there whether we did anything or not, we are the ones who get seen.”

Some drivers brought up the use of CB radios, which have not been restricted: “The CB is way more distracting/annoying than a cell phone,” one pro wrote.

Another trucker noted: “Plenty of accidents have been caused by drivers using the CB. There is no ‘record’ of use during an accident so any feel-good legislation simply doesn’t have the same bang for the buck as cell phone laws do.”

The hands-free question will be moot soon enough, Finney predicted: “There is little doubt that the day is not too far away that in-dash electronic technology will become common and allow a driver to make and receive voice-activated cell phone calls without taking his or her hands off the steering wheel.”

Safety seemed to be the bottom line for some of the pros:

“Talking on a cell phone while driving is nothing but a distraction,” said Charles Isaacs of
South Carolina. “I don’t do it. I tried it and I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t keep my mind focused on what I was doing. I don’t see how other people do it.”

Another pro wrote during a forum debate: “IMO, this should have been addressed a long time ago. We are the professionals and should know better.”

And: “I don’t care if you are driving a CMV (commercial motor vehicle), a car, a bike, a horse & buggy — if you feel the need to talk while you’re driving get a hands-free device.”

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 problem is not hands-free,” LaHood said at a DOT news conference Dec. 21. “That is not the big problem (with distracted drivers).”

LaHood was publicly distancing himself from the National Transportation Safety Board’s Dec. 13 call for a blanket ban on cell phones and similar portable electronic devices — regardless of whether hands-free devices are utilized.

To date, all distracted driving laws in the U.S. allow adults to use hands-free devices such as Bluetooth headsets.

NTSB chairwoman Debbie Hersman says researchers haven’t demonstrated that hands-free operation of wireless devices is significantly safer than handheld use. That argument is frequently raised by opponents of distracted driving laws — and some supporters. A major federal study of hands-free safety is expected in 2012.

LaHood did agree, however, that driving and phoning don’t mix: “We need people to take personal responsibility. Put the cellphone in the glove compartment,” he told reporters at the Department of Transportation headquarters.

LaHood’s comments were interpreted by the Wall Street Journal and other media as assurances to the automobile and wireless industries that the DOT would not pursue a flat-out ban on cell phones. The plan for a national cell phone ban also would be a hot potato for the Obama Administration in an election year. The NTSB is an independent entity, while LaHood and the DOT work for the president.

The DOT has been working with some automobile makers who are developing Internet-ready dashboard systems. The NTSB call for a national ban did not include dashboard systems with wireless capabilities, however.

As for the NTSB, LaHood said: “If other people want to work on hands-free, so be it.”

Editorial: “Ban all cell phone use by drivers”

About time.

Proponents and foes of laws against distracted driving agree, oddly enough, that the watery prohibitions being dispensed by many states are of little use and make little sense. The legislative “compromise” of saddling distracted driving laws with secondary enforcement is a joke. What if speeding tickets were only handed out if drivers actually caused a wreck, injury or death?

Asking law officers to figure out whether a cell phone user is dialing a number or typing a message borders on absurdity. Yet that’s the task in states that banned texting but continue to allow handheld cell phone use. The result: Few law enforcement agencies in these states bother to write tickets for text messaging, the most dangerous of distracted driving behaviors.

The NTSB only makes recommendations. Even if it had rule-making authority (as does the U.S. DOT), it could not tell states what to do with their traffic laws.

The feds, however, have a way of getting their way, using the carrot or the stick. Federal grants were used to encourage states to use primary enforcement on seat belt laws. States that failed to raise their drinking ages to 21 complied after facing disastrous cutoffs of federal highway funding. A plan to use incentive grants for electronic distracted driving laws is making its way through Congress, although prospects remain uncertain.

One lawmaker said the other day that a complete cell phone ban would be “the most ignored law since Prohibition.” Maybe so, but most Americans obey the law because it’s the law. Young drivers are taught the law. Good cops and judges enforce the law.

NTSB chairwoman Deborah Hersman (pictured) points out that the increasing sophistication of smartphones — personal computers, really — makes the dangers more acute than even a few years ago. The debate about much more than simple phone calls.

“This is a difficult recommendation, but it’s the right recommendation and it’s time,” Hersman said.

Drivers who choose to be distracted by cell phones and texting devices should pay increasingly severe fines and face loss of their licenses. Those who kill with their arrogant carelessness should be treated as killers under manslaughter laws.

States that fail to enforce their own electronic distracted driving laws, such as Wisconsin, should suffer a graduated loss of federal funds. Dumb and dumber states — notably my birthplace of Florida — that refuse to enact any distracted driving laws must be incentivized and punished. They are in need of adult supervision.

There exists a malignant hypocrisy in the distracted driving debate, with guilty parties on both sides — lawmakers, federal and state agencies, the media, law enforcement, researchers, cell phone companies and automakers, etc. That hypocrisy is acting as if there were myriad subtleties, considerations and courses of action here.

The time for lip service and game-playing grows short, while the list of the dead and wounded grows longer. The NTSB has it right: Ban all non-emergency cell phone use by U.S. drivers.

“It is time for all of us to stand up for safety by turning off electronic devices when driving,” NTSB chairman Deborah Hersman said at a Dec. 13 hearing on the 2010 multi-vehicle wreck. “How many more lives will be lost before we, as a society, change our attitudes about the deadliness of distractions?”

Electronic distracted driving “is becoming the new DUI,” board member Robert Sumwalt said. “It’s becoming epidemic.”

States would have to sign off on the NTSB plan for it to take effect, far from a given. Seventeen states have yet to outlaw all text messaging while driving, including Florida, Ohio and South Carolina. No state has banned all use of cell phones by drivers, although a few legislatures have briefly considered such a prohibition.

State legislatures that have banned the use of cell phones while driving have all exempted devices with hands-free accessories such as Bluetooth headsets. The NTSB recommendation is for a ban on non-emergency use of all cell phones, text messaging devices, smartphones and other portable electronic devices not related to operation of the vehicle. The board vote was unanimous.

The NHTSA board called for high-visibility enforcement to support distracted driving bans as well as campaigns to inform motorists of the new law and heightened enforcement. It noted that the Missouri State Highway Patrol handed out only 120 citations for texting (by drivers under 21) in a recent two-year period.

In the Gray Summit, Mo., crash, Daniel A. Schatz of Sullivan, driver of the pickup truck, rammed a truck-tractor after sending and receiving 11 text messages in the 11 minutes before the wreck. “The last text was received moments before the pickup struck the truck-tractor,” the NTSB reported in its findings on the Missouri chain reaction crash.

The pickup truck then was rear-ended by one school bus, which was then rear-ended by another school bus. Two people died, including Schatz. At least 38 people were injured.

“Driving was not (Schatz’s) only priority,” Hersman said. “No call, no text, no update is worth a human life.”

The NTSB report cited several other highly publicized distracted driving accidents, including:

• The 2008 commuter crash in Chatsworth, Calif., caused by a texting operator. Twenty-five people died and dozens were injured.
• The 2010 crash caused by a cell phoning tractor-trailer driver near Munfordville, Ky., in which 11 people died.
• The 2010 airline incident in which two pilots explained their one-hour overshoot of the Minneapolis airport by saying they were distracted by laptop computers.
• The NTSB noted its first investigation of an electronic distracted driving crash came in 2002, when a novice driver using a cell phone veered off the roadway in Largo, Md., crossed the median, flipped over the car and killed five people.

A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report released in early December estimated that 13.5 million drivers are on cell phones during any moment in daylight hours. One in 100 drivers are making phone calls, texting or using the Internet at any moment, the report said.

The U.S. Transportation Department banned handheld cell phone use by interstate truck and bus drivers on Nov. 23. The DOT reported Dec. 8 that 3,092 people died in accidents linked to distracted driving in 2010.

Another reason for optimism, it might seem: 3,092 people died in accidents connected with distracted driving, down significantly from 2009′s 5,474 fatalities.

But the bad news lurks in the detail, as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration changed its method of tracking distracted driving accidents.

“All of our evidence suggests that the problem may actually be getting worse,” says federal DOT chief Ray LaHood (pictured). The explanation: “We’ve narrowed the potential distractions included” in order to more accurately report on major distracted behaviors.

The new tracking category is called “distraction-affected crashes.” The indicator was introduced for 2010′s report in order to focus on activities such as dialing a mobile phone or sending texts while driving, LaHood wrote on his DOT blog, Fast Lane.

LaHood also took care to point out that the number of distracted driving reports is limited by the need in many cases for drivers to self-report their unsafe behavior. The DOT chief, no doubt, is bracing for attacks by critics of distracted driving prohibitions, some of whom will use the lower number of deaths to argue that the problem is not significant.

The 2010 number for overall fatalities was 32,885, the NHTSA numbers show. The decline in U.S. roadway deaths from 2009 was almost 3 percent. About 2.24 million were injured, down slightly from ’09.

Close behind came texting while driving. Combined, cell phoning and text messaging drew almost 40 percent of the responses.

Both problems individually outweighed last year’s main concern, “speeding and aggressive driving,” according to the second-annual survey by the California Office of Traffic Safety.

Texting soared in mentions as the biggest danger, going from last year’s 2 percent to 18 percent.

When asked to name the most serious distraction for drivers, respondents said cell phone use (56 percent) and texting while driving (27 percent). No other distracted activity (eating, grooming, etc.) was cited in more than 2 percent of the responses. Texting again increased as a concern, going from about 13 percent (2010) to 27 percent. Cell phone use (handheld or hands-free) fell by 6 percent, with most of those mentions presumably rerouted to texting.

The 2011 survey included 1,801 drivers over age 18. They were questioned at gas stations throughout California. (Read the 2011 California traffic safety report).

“This information provides us with unique insight into the concerns of Californians,” OTS Director Christopher Murphy said. “It is very telling that we’ve seen such a shift in opinions on cell phone use in just one year.”

The drivers indicated they’re getting the message about distracted driving: When asked how often they talked on a handheld cell phone in the past month, 10.5 percent said “regularly” — down from 14 percent in 2010. The majority indicated “never.”

When asked the same question about text messaging while driving, 6 percent indicated they did it regularly, down from 9 percent in 2010. 72 percent said never. More drivers 18-24 cited texting as the top danger, yet they were more likely to text message while behind the wheel.

A third of Southern California drivers cited texting as the biggest problem while only a quarter agreed in Northern California.

More responses from the traffic safety survey:

• Four in 10 of the drivers said they used their cell phone less because of California’s handheld law.
• Seven in 10 said hands-free cell phone use was safer than handheld use.
• Six in 10 said they’ve been hit or almost hit by a driver yakking on a cell phone, up slightly from 2010.

The California Office of Traffic Safety survey also asked the motorists about drunken driving, sobriety checkpoints and seat belt use. The director said the survey was beginning to show trends in its second year and would provide “valuable data for our planning, particularly in distracted driving programs and the emerging drugged driving problem.”

Cell phone use by drivers ranked No. 2 in the 2010 survey about the biggest safety problems on California’s highways.

Related story: U.S. drivers recognize talking & texting as dangerous activities, but many continue to drive distracted anyway — even in high-risk traffic situations.