Philly stake out: Cell driving ban near
March 25, 2009
The city of Philadelphia moved closer to a local ban on use of handheld phones on Wednesday as Councilman Bill Green’s plan sailed through committee. First offense will run drivers $150 while subsequent fines will be $300.
(Update: The City Council approved the ban on drivers using handheld cell phones April 16 and Mayor Michael Nutter has promised to sign it into law. The vote was unanimous.)
Pennsylvania’s legislature has several cell phone and texting bills to consider, but none appear to have any heat. A spokesman for the Philly cops said he hopes the local ordinance’s passage would “send a strong message to Harrisburg that the time has come.”
New York’s swarm of local legislation against text messaging while driving and the use of handheld phones usually is credited to a similar lack of urgency in Albany. At least something happened today: Sen. Toby Ann Stavisky’s call for police to report on cell phone-related accidents cleared the Senate and is now in the House Transportation Committee.
Pennsylvania: Cell phone laws, legislation
December 19, 2008
Pennsylvania cell phone/texting news: The House and Senate have split on a plan to prohibit handheld cell phone use and text messaging by young drivers.
The House, which approved the plan, voted July 1 to reject the Senate’s amendments, which include a downgrade to “secondary” enforcement. The governor indicated he would sign the bill if it survives the legislative process.
Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Wilkes-Barre, Erie and Allentown have banned cell phone use by drivers unless a hands-free attachment is in use.
Current prohibitions:
- No statewide limits on cell phone use. Some local ordinances address cell phones and driving.
- Driving while using a handheld cell phone and text messaging banned in Philadelphia and Harrisburg.
Active legislation (2010):
HB 67: Would prohibit drivers with provisional licenses from cell phoning or text messaging. Fine of $100. HB 67 is a wider teen safety measure that was approved by House on April 27, 2009, and sent to the Senate, which passed a watered-down version. In 2010, it cleared the Senate appropriations committee March 22. An overall distracted driving prohibition was removed from the bill. Amended in the Senate on May 24 to downgrade cell phone and text messaging enforcement to “secondary.” Approved by the Senate on May 24 in a 44-3 vote. Latest action: The House rejected the Senate’s amendments on July 1, with 71 representatives in favor of those changes but 126 opposed. Bill possibly goes to a compromise committee. (Markosek)
HB 2070: Would prohibit all drivers from use of handheld cell phones and text messaging while on Pennsylvania roads. Cell phone use OK if a hands-free accessory
Senate Bill 1188: Would outlaw drivers’ use of handheld cell phones and texting devices. Also seeks to ban all wireless communication device use by drivers under 18. Fines of $50, doubled in school and construction zones. (Williams)
List of other 2009-2010 legislation below.
2010 legislation notes:
HB 67 sponsor Rep. Joe Markosek, D-Allegheny, is dismayed by the Senate amendments to the cell phone and texting bans for young drivers. He said July 1 that the Senate has “watered this bill down to where, unfortunately, I don’t think it’s worth us having it pass and become the law of the land.”
“My legislation would allow law enforcement to be proactive and stop these drivers before an accident occurs,” Markosek told the Pottstown Mercury on May 25. “Unfortunately, the Senate saw fit to amend it so nothing can be done until after the fact.”
Sen. John C. Rafferty Jr., chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, opposed the amendments to HB 67 but voted for the bill in hopes that the House would remove the secondary enforcement limitations. He blamed “colleagues from southeastern Pennsylvania” for voting for the amendment.
The York Dispatch editorialized that the state Senate’s move was an “unforgivable dismantling of a House bill intended to protect young drivers and those who share the road with them.” The paper pointed to Sen. John Wozniak, D-Johnstown, originator of the amendment. The Senate “ought to be ashamed of itself,” the Dispatch concluded.
Markosek and Rep. Josh Shapiro, D-Montgomery, are the principals behind HB 2070, which passed the full House on Jan. 26. In addition to the ban on handheld devices and the total restriction on wireless communications devices by younger drivers, it calls for a statewide education campaign on distracted driving and an annual report on accidents caused by text messaging and cell phoning while behind the wheel.
“This legislation is proof that the Legislature does listen to the public outcry,” Markosek said after the House voted 189-6 in favor of his bill. He added: “We are all one text from eternity.”
Markosek said April 13 that he expected passage of HBs 2070 and 67 “very soon.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer editorialized in favor of HB 67 on Jan. 3, 2010: “While Harrisburg considers whether a cell phone ban or a passenger restriction is fair to kids, our teens are dying on the roads in predictable, preventable patterns.”
Rep. Markosek is the head of the House Transportation Committee, who in 2008 spearheaded HB 67 and an overall distracted-driving bill. He said HB 2070 was a compromise, put together by a study panel.
Wilkes-Barre moved aggressively to enact a city ban on drivers’ handheld cell phone use and text messaging. The law goes into effect April 18, 2010, with $75 fines that won’t apply until the city’s warning period expires July 1. Texting and cell phoning while driving will be primary offenses.
Allentown’s ban on driving while using handheld cell phones was approved March 3. Fines of $150 to $300. Enforcement is set for April 19. Primary enforcement. Includes skateboarders, inline skaters and bicyclists. The law was inspired by a fatal crash, blamed on a cell-phoning teen, in which two parents died and their daughter almost lost her life.
Philadelphia police say they’ve stopped an average of 50 drivers a day for violating the city’s texting while driving law. Almost 2,500 citations were handed out in December 2009 and January 2010, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
The City of Harrisburg has taken action on distracted driving, with a ban on use of interactive wireless communication devices that went into effect March 1. $100 fine (first offense), then up to $1,000.
2009-2010 session legislation
HB 1375: Would prohibit use of wireless communication devices while driving on Pennsylvania roads and highways. (DePasquale)
SB 143: Would outlaw texting while driving in Pennslvania. Covers sending, reading or writing text messages. Approved by the Senate in a 44-3 vote and sent to the House on July 9, 2009. Makes texting a secondary offense with a maximum $100 fine.
SB 950: Would prohibit text messaging by all drivers in Pennsylvania.
HB 538: Would prohibit handheld cell phone use by drivers (hands-free device OK) and text messaging while driving. Would outlaw use of “wireless interactive devices” by drivers with restricted licenses.
HB 307: Would prohibit use of cellular phones by school bus drivers.
HB 502: Would create an offense for distracted driving. Includes electronic devices, cell phones, grooming aides, books.
HB 305: Would prohibit text messaging while operating a motor vehicle in Pennsylvania.
SB 459: Would outlaw use of handheld cell phones and other wireless devices while operating motor vehicles. Hands-free OK.
Previous legislation notes:
An amendment to HB 67 that would have made banned use of handheld phones for all drivers was narrowly defeated in the Pennsylvania House on April 23. HB 67 would prohibit drivers with provisional licenses from cell phoning or text messaging while imposing other limits on teenage drivers.
The Philadelphia Inquirer pointed out July 31 that the Pennsylvania Senate plan to outlaw texting “would make Philadelphia’s roads less safe by upending the city’s ban on handheld phones and texting.” Senate Bill 143 makes texting a secondary offense, meaning law officers would not pull over motorists for that reason alone.
The cell phone amendment was offered by Rep. Josh Shapiro, D-Abington Township, author of HB 538 and previous cell phone-driving bills. The House did add a distracted driving amendment to HB 67.
Rep. Shapiro rounded up 73 co-sponsors for his third try on a cell phone bill HB 538 that would prohibit driving and talking without the use of a hands-free device.
On Shapiro’s first try at restricting cell phone use by Pennsylvania drivers, in 2005-006, the bill had 31 co-sponsors. In 2007-08, it had 46 co-sponsors.
Shapiro, interviewed on the cell phone legislation by the Morning Call, said: “As the seatbelt law demonstrated, a law on the books is the best deterrent to a dangerous behavior. The goal of my legislation is not to be punitive, but to end this dangerous behavior.”
Crash survivor Jacy Good has been lobbying for the cell phone driving legislation (HB 538). She lost both parents in the wreck, caused by a teenage driver on a cell phone. “I will not stop until this bill becomes law,” Good told a news conference March 11. She received a shattered pelvis and a brain injury in the cell phone-related crash.
Rep. Kate Harper, R-61st District, fears her HB 67 won’t survive its trip through the Pennsylvania General Assembly: “Too many of the members like their electronic gadgets,” Harper told The Reporter. “The thinking is, ‘If we ban teens from using certain devices when they drive, maybe we’ll ban other people from using them.’”
Rep. Eugene DePasquale, D-York, is an advocate for cell phone and text messaging legislation in Pennsylvania. “I do believe we’re going to make some progress on driver safety (in the 2009 session),” DePasquale told the Evening Sun.
Both Shapiro and DePasquale introduced similar bills in 2008.
Rep. Markosek in 2008 sponsored HB 2674 seeking restrictions on teen drivers, including a ban on text messaging.
Confusion reigned in fall 2007 as an email and forum post circulated that said HB 1827 had been enacted. Apparently the poster was confused by language in the bill, which remains in the transportation committee.
Shifting sentiment: “Efforts to outlaw hand-held cell phones in Pennsylvania have failed for years, but it appears the tide is turning, now that Democrats control the House,” Paul Carpenter of the Morning Call wrote.
The former opponent of cell phone limits on drivers now says: “I could not help but notice the increasingly atrocious driving associated with cell phones. … If a driver is smoking and holding a cell phone at the same time, I’d rather have Stevie Wonder at the wheel.”
City and country ordinances:
The Erie City Council unanimously approved a local law that bans texting and the use of handheld cell phones by drivers and bicycle riders. The Dec. 3, 2009, vote called for secondary enforcement, meaning police will need another reason to pull over drivers who are cell-phoning. Fines would be $150 to $300 ($75 if paid in 10 days).
Millcreek Township voted Dec 1, 2009, to endorse statewide action on handheld cell phones and text messaging devices, at the request of state legislators.
Philadephia’s new prohibitions on handheld cell phones extend to bicyclists, motorcyclists, skaters and skateboarders. Fines for operating a vehicle while using handheld phones or text messaging begin at $150 ($75 if paid in 10 days) and top out at $300. Mayor Mike Nutter signed off on the law on April 30, despite threats from state legislators. The law went into effect Nov. 1.
City Councilman Bill Green, the Philadelphia ban’s author, says that “lobbyists for the cell-phone industry are pushing Pennsylvania’s General Assembly to undo these protections.”
Lower Chichester has banned texting while driving. The community already restricts the use of handheld cell phones by motorists. “Text messaging now supersedes drugs and alcohol for causing the most accidents in the United States,” said township Commissioners President Rocco Gaspari Jr. “Something needs to be done and I won’t wait for someone in Harrisburg to get off their butt to tell everyone across the commonwealth that text messaging is dangerous.” Prohibitions include gaming and Internet surfing. Fines will be $75 plus court costs. The vote came on Aug. 17, 2009.
Hazelton is considering a ban on using handheld cell phones while driving. Includes text messaging. The fine would be $75. The legislation was tabled on April 7, 2009, and may be amended to a ban on texting only.
The Bethlehem City Council also is pondering a ban on cell phone use by drivers unless a hands-free device is employed. Fines would be $150 to $300.
Carbondale outlawed handheld cell phone use and texting by drivers in 2007.
2008 legislative session:
HB 1827: Would have prohibited drivers from using cell phones unless a hands-free device is engaged.
HB 2674: Would have prohibited drivers with permits and “junior” licenses from using “an interactive wireless communications device,” including cell phones and text-messaging devices. The bill unanimously passed the House Transportation Committee on Sept. 16, 2008.
SB 1097: Would have prohibited drivers from using cell phones unless a hands-free device is engaged. Also applies to text messaging devices. (SB 471 identical)
SB 1098: Would have prohibited use of cell phones and other communication devices by drivers under the age of 18.
SB 677: Would have prohibited school bus drivers from using cell phones while transporting children. Includes stops for children to board or exit the bus.
For 2007, state police reported 1,245 crashes related to cell phone use by motorists.