Massachusetts: Cell phone laws, legislation
Last updated: February 5, 2010 · Print this report
Cell phone, text messaging news: The full House has approved a ban on text messaging and the use of handheld cell phones
Current prohibitions:
School bus operators not permitted to use cell phones while driving.
Active legislation in 2010:
The full House has passed a bill crafted by the Joint Transportation Committee that would ban texting and the use of handheld cell phones while driving. The measure also seeks to prohibit drivers under age 18 from using cell phones of any type. Fines $100/$250/$500.
The bill is a “redraft” of HB 335, filed a year ago (Wagner). The Feb. 4, 2010, House vote was 146-9. Transportation Committee co-chairmen Rep. Joseph F. Wagner, D-Chicopee, and Sen. Steven A. Baddour, D-Methuen, unveiled the plan a week earlier, but it did not include the hands-free requirement for cell phone use. Wagner’s amendment to add a handheld cell phone ban to the House bill passed by a 91-66 count.
SB 2246: Legislation that would authorize the City of Boston’s ban on text messaging. (Petruccelli)
(2009 distracted driving bills below)
2010 legislative notes:
The House’s Feb. 4 vote on the Transportation Committee bill included approval of an amendment that lowered its penalties on junior drivers. The measure now calls for suspensions of 7 days, then 30, then 90.
“This sends a message that texting while operating a motor vehicle in the Commonwealth will not be tolerated,” Rep. Joseph Wagner said after the Joint Committee on Transportation approved the composite bill to outlaw texting for all drivers as well as cell phone use by drivers under 18.
The Massachusetts House and Senate are in session through July.
Boston’s City Council voted unanimously in December for a ban on texting while behind the wheel. The city has petitioned the state Legislature for home-rule approval (see SB 2246, above). The Council had a public hearing on the text messaging issue Dec. 7. “They say you can’t legislate common sense, but I this case I think we need to do something about it,” said Councillor John Tobin, the legislation’s author. He indicated the intent was to pressure the state Legislature to pass one of the many bills pending before it regarding distracted driving. The Legislature would have to sign off on a Boston-area ban on text messaging as a “home rule” petition.
The Boston texting ban would receive “primary” enforcement, meaning police can pull over violators for that reason alone. Fine range between $100 and $300.
Quincy is considering a ban on texting within city limits. City council president Kevin Coughlin, author of the legislation, says he has been hit twice by text messaging teenagers. The measure was sent for review on Jan. 25, 2010.
2009-2010 legislation:
HB 3259: Would ban use of handheld cell phones by all drivers and any cell phones by junior drivers. (Koutoujian)
HB 3160: Would outlaw text messaging by all Massachusetts drivers. (Atsalis)
HB 4029: Would prohibit handheld cell phone use and text messaging by drivers with junior licenses. (Murphy)
HB 4015: Junior operators of motor vehicles would be banned from using cell phones and text messaging devices. (Alicea)
HB 3369: Would create a campaign to spread awareness of the dangers of text messaging while driving. To be funded by voluntary contributions from telecommunications companies. (Welch)
Legislative, legal roundup:
Senate budget bill: A ban on texting while driving was approved by the full Senate on May 21, 2009, as part of the overall state budget bill. The provision was stripped out after the bill went to a conference committee with the House, on the grounds that it had nothing to do with the budget.
Sen. Steven A. Baddour, D-Methuen, introduced the amendment. It also would have prohibited public transit operators from holding a cell phone while driving.
Note: The Massachusetts Legislature web site does not provide reliable status updates on current bills. Information presented here may be incomplete.
A legislative hearing on June 11 surveyed more than a dozen 2009 bills that would ban text messaging and/or limit cell phone use while driving. The Transportation Committee heard from the mother of a teen driver who died just after receiving a text message.
“Texting while driving has become the new drunk driving,” said Rep. Peter Koutoujian.”You can tell someone is on their cellphone just by the way they’re driving.”
Sen. Steven Baddour’s text messaging amendment would bring a $75 fine and possible insurance penalties. He told fellow senators on May 21:
“The fact that we recently had a number of tragedies with young adults texting, we have a generation of drivers who think it’s OK to drive while texting. For people to suggest that holding a cell phone is the cause of accidents is not supported by the facts. At the end of the day, that’s where we need to do a better job, educating people.”
Almost 50 people were injured when a trolley operator in Boston crashed into the rear of another trolley while sending a text message to his girlfriend. The May 8 crash inspired an immediate city ban on drivers of trolleys, trains, and buses having cell phones in their possession while working.
The Boston transit agency suspended its first worker for a violation of the cell phone policy in early June. He exited a train wearing a Bluetooth wireless device and had a cell phone in a bag. A second offense means termination. The MBTA policy went into effect on May 18.
A New Bedford man was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for kill a 13-year-old bicyclist while text messaging and driving. Craig P. Bigos will see his drivers license revoked for 10 years as well, according to the Nov. 12, 2008, sentence.
The New Bedford Eagle editorialized on May 15, 2009: “Text messaging has become part of the culture, which won’t change. It has also become a threat to others on roads and trains, and that has to change.”
Cell phone use was cited in 435 vehicle crashes around the state in 2007, the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles reported. In 2008, the preliminary number was just shy of 400.
2007-2008 legislation:
HB 4477: Would require drivers to use hands-free devices while making cell phone calls. Would prohibit drivers under the age of 18 from using cell phones regardless of whether hands-free devices are engaged. Would prohibit drivers from sending text messages and e-mails while driving. Calls for a one-time $600 insurance surcharge for first offense. “No further action taken.”
HB 4477 was approved by the House on Jan. 23, 2008, and advanced to the Senate, where the cell phone bill (2048) was last reported in the ethics panel. Senate President Therese Murray, D-Plymouth, told The Republican that there was no interest in the cell-phone driving bill in her chamber, and that she had not given it much thought.
Rep. Joseph F. Wagner, D-Chicopee, the moving force behind the House bill, is up against the Senate chairman of the transportation committee, who wants the legislation to die without a floor vote.
“Every independent study that I’ve seen … says it’s not the holding of the cell phone that causes the problem,” Sen. Steven Baddour said. “It’s the distraction of not paying attention.”
My sister was in a car accident almost three years ago. She was nineteen at the time. She is a traumatic brain injury survivor but still is unable to walk, talk or eat. She is confined to a wheelchair and a long-term care facility, until we are equipped to bring her home. Her accident was caused by the distraction of her cell phone. Her injury however was as severe as it was because she was not wearing her seatbelt. Both of these issues need to be addressed by legislation. (Currently Massachusetts is working on a primary seat belt law). I WILL NOT use my cell phone if I am driving because of the devastating effect that its distraction has had on my sisters’ life and the lives of everyone who knows and loves her.
So you are saying that it was the legislatures fault for not making it illegal to use a cell phone while driving? That is borderline ludicrous. It is traumatic what happened to your sister, and nobody should have to deal with that situation either personally or with a family member. But, that being said, bottom line is that it was clearly her fault, and not the legislatures for not making it illegal. Is there a law that says, “Don’t stick your tongue in a electric socket, and if somebody is dumb enough to do it, is ti the legislatures fault for not making a law, ordinance, or statute to prevent such activity? What ever happened to freedom of choice and all that rhetoric that is quickly being thrown out the window at every opportunity. Is it not bad enough that you are tracked daily by your credit accounts and use of your social security number, and the fact that you already have minimal, and I say that laughingly, rights as a civilian when a police officer pull you over, that you want to give them more reasons to do it? Think about the consequences of what you ask before you do. The right to privacy outweighs anything to be gained from a ban of cell phone use in a vehicle. Its already bad enough that I am forced against my will, with no threat to anyone else, to wear a seatbelt, and if I don’t, greedy insurance companies can charge me higher premiums.
Here are five brief excerpts (from among many other well-documented studies) that make it clear why there should be a ban on all cell phone use (hand-held or hands-free devices) while operating a motor vehicle. Thanks for reading.
Study 1 [3/13/2002] http://www.nsc.org/issues/idrive/inincell.htm
Study participants who engaged in cell phone conversations missed twice as many simulated traffic signals as when they were not talking on the cell phone. They also took longer to react to those signals that they did detect. These deficits were equivalent for both hand-held and hands-free cell phone users.
Cellular phone use disrupts performance by diverting attention to an engaging cognitive context other than the one immediately associated with driving.
Legislative initiatives that restrict hand-held devices but permit hands-free devices are not likely to reduce interference from the phone conversation, because the interference is due to central attentional processes.
Study 2 [7/23/2003] http://www.healingsearch.com/Health%20News/Cell%20Phone%20Driving%20Like%20Being%20Drunk.htm
A study published in 1997 in the New England Journal of Medicine, based on accident data in Toronto, found that the risk of driving and using a cell phone was similar to that when driving drunk. The risk of a collision was three to six times higher than when a driver was sober and not using a cell phone.
In a new study, researchers from the University of Utah conclude that talking on a cell phone behind the wheel is more dangerous than driving drunk. And it makes no difference whether the telephone is hand-held or used hands-free.
Study 3 [12/9/2005] http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/12/051209113320.htm
The study [of multi-tasking] can be applied to drivers who talk on cell phones. On the surface, it appears that drivers are trying to accomplish just two tasks – driving and conversing. But each task is complicated and multi-faceted, greatly increasing the “cost” of switching. The result: inattention and slow reaction times.
“A lot of people think talking on the cell phone while driving is natural, but each time someone asks a question or changes the subject, it’s like taking on a new task. It requires a certain amount of thought and preparation. It’s actually quite different than listening to the radio, where you don’t need to respond.”
“And it’s also different from talking to a passenger in the vehicle. In most cases, a passenger can observe when there is a dangerous traffic situation and keep quiet. But someone calling you on a cell phone won’t have a clue.”
Study 4 [6/30/2006] http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,201586,00.html
Driving while talking on a cell phone is as bad as, or maybe worse, than driving drunk.
The study is detailed in the summer 2006 issue of Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. It is the first peer-reviewed study on this topic to include drinking.
“Just like you put yourself and other people at risk when you drive drunk, you put yourself and others at risk when you use a cell phone and drive. The level of impairment is very similar.”
Study 5 [1/2008] http://www.psych.utah.edu/AppliedCognitionLab/
A University of Utah study found that conversation — and not the use of hands-free phone devices — is the main distraction while driving and talking on cell phones.
New research showed that the cars of drivers talking on cell phones tended to move slower and, thus, caused traffic to show down.
The costs of delay and traffic jams can be deceptively high. “If we compile the millions of drivers distracted by cell phones and their small delays, and convert them to dollars, the costs are likely to be dramatic. Cell phones cost us dearly.”
Recently moved to the Boston area from NY and very surprised that there is no law against cellphone usage. I bought a new car and automatically put in a hands free cellphone device. I am shocked at how many people drive and speak on the phone. I can tell right away by the way they are driving and always right when I pull up next to them.
I do not want to be a statistic and I don’t think anyone should be. We might as well let people drive drunk as far as I am concerned.