Missouri: Cell phone laws, legislation

Legislative update: Several bills were filed for the 2010 session that would have extended the ban on texting by teen drivers to adults, but none found success. The legislative session ended in mid-May.

Current prohibitions:
Drivers under the age of 21 are prohibited from text messaging.

2010 legislation (all dead as of May 14):
HB 2111: Text messaging ban would be extended to all drivers regardless of age under this broad transportation bill. Approved by the House on April 29 (102-9 vote). First-round approval by the Senate on April 26, with amendments unrelated to texting. Sent to Fiscal Oversight Committee.

SB 701: Would ban texting by all Missouri drivers. Moving violation with points. Cleared the Senate Transportation Committee on April 13. (McKenna)

Missouri House Bill 1202: Would prohibit text messaging by all drivers, regardless of age, on any paved road. (Kuessner)

HB 1205: Would outlaw text messaging by all drivers. (Schad)

HB 1276: Would bar all Missouri drivers from texting. (Wells)

HB 1315: Would outlaw text messaging by all Missouri drivers, regardless of age (Shivley)

Cell phone, texting notes:
Public Safety Committee Chairman Mark Bruns, R-Jefferson City, said none of the plans for adding adults to the texting ban advanced because, in part, it is too hard for police to tell if a driver is over 21. Bruns said enforcement was so tricky that there should be no texting ban in Missouri.

Sen. Ryan McKenna, D-Crystal City, who saw his 2009 legislation result in the texting ban for young drivers, returned with SB 701, which would bar all Missouri drivers from text messaging while driving. Texting while behind the wheel is “a bad idea regardless of age,” he says. Several other bills sought the same sanctions.

Ryan said of the teens-only texting ban: “It makes horrible public policy to say if you are 22 or older, it is safe to text and drive.”

Cell phone use while driving contributed to more than 1,780 accidents in Missouri in 2009, the highway patrol reported. In the first half of 2010, there were 791 traffic crashes related to mobile phone use behind the wheel, with eight fatalities and 239 injuries.

Rep. Don Wells, R-Cabool, who sponsored another bill (HB 1276) that would have outlawed texting by all drivers, said of the existing teen ban: “That’s like saying, ‘You can kill yourself if you’re over 21.’ ” Wells owns a defensive driving school.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol launched an anti-text messaging campaign in July. The campaign’s logo features a “no texting” design. MSHP is offering window-cling decals to the public. Con-way Freight, a major employer in Missouri, promoted the campaign by featuring the no-texting logo on its Ford Fusion race car. (Con-Way prohibits texting by its drivers). Adults, however, are allowed to drive and text message in Missouri, party due to law officers’ concerns over enforcement. The highway patrol asked older drivers to “honor the letter and the spirit of the law.”

The superintendent of the Missouri Highway Patrol said Jan. 19 that only 13 tickets had been written as a result of the Missouri ban on texting by teenage drivers. Most came during accident investigations.

Missouri’s Department of Transportation has banned text messaging by its employees. The department is supporting efforts to outlaw texting for all Missouri drivers.

2009 legislation:

HB 62: Wide-ranging crime bill that includes a ban on text messaging while driving for drivers under the age of 21. Approved by the House and Senate and signed by the governor as part of an omnibus crime bill. Enforcement began Aug. 28.

SB 130: Would ban the sending of text messages while operating motor vehicles. The legislation against texting while driving was approved by the full Missouri Senate on March 11, 2009, after it was added to a larger transportation bill.

HB 26: Would prohibit use of handheld cell phones by motorists. Permits hands-free.

HB 92: Would prohibit drivers from using cell phones unless a hands-free attachment was employed.

HB 134: Would outlaw drivers’ use of cell phones unless a hands-free device was employed. Bans text messaging of all types.

SB 129: Would prevent school bus drivers from text messaging and using handheld phones.

2009 legislation notes:
Sen. Ryan McKenna, D-Crystal City, was the sponsor of both Senate bills.

Sen. McKenna saw his SB 130, which would ban text messages by motorists, approved by the Senate on March 11 after it was folded into a comprehensive transportation bill. It cleared the Senate Transportation Committee on Feb. 18.

Sen. Tom Dempsey, R-St. Peters, has been frustrated in past years with his cell phone safety legislation. He cites a “civil libertarian component” at work in the state, as found in resistance to laws requiring motorcycle helmets and seat belts, according to the Columbia Daily Tribune.

Cell phone bill sponsor Rep. Joe Smith is a Republican from St. Charles County. He sponsored a similar bill in 2008. Smith said many people can dial without looking, but that “basically we need a better system with dialing.”

Rep. Talibdin El-Amin, D-St. Louis, sponsor of HB 92, says of his constituents: “They know they talk on the phone and they know of a time they have been distracted. And then you hear the stories of people who have been killed because of it, and one is too many.”

The vice-chairman of the transportation committee indicated that it might not get around to the issues of electronic communications by drivers. “There is only so much time to get bills through,” said state Rep. Sally Faith, R-St. Charles.

Springfield reports that of the 146 crash reports in 2008, 44 percent of the crashes were due to cell phone use.

A Town and Country, Mo., alderman failed to find support for a city ordinance against driving and cell phoning. City lawmakers refused to take up the plan in August 2008, saying the issue needs to be addressed at the state level.

Alderman John Hoffmann told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “With a number of cell phone companies giving campaign contributions through straw parties and directly this isn’t about to hit the Missouri Legislature anytime soon for a vote.”

The local police commission urged the aldermen to instead push the state and county for a ban on cell phone use by drivers.