SB 28 vetoed in California

California’s governor has vetoed a plan to double fines for distracted driving violations, saying he was not interested in “ratcheting up the penalties as prescribed by this bill.”

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.

Calif. gov gets bill doubling fines

The state Senate and House have approved Sen. Joe Simitian’s SB 28, a reprise of his 2010 plan to more than double fines for distracted driving violations. The 2011 bill was sent to Gov. Jerry Brown on Aug. 15.

Update of Sept. 7: The governor vetoed SB 28, saying its fines were too punitive for most people.

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

“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.

The bill now applies to bicyclists. After lobbying from bicyclists groups, the penalties in the Simitian plan were set at $20 for a first offense and $50 thereafter, with no added fees — and no point on their driver’s license.

Read the SB 28 press release

California plan to double fines is dead

State Sen. Joe Simitian’s bid to increase the effectiveness of California’s distracted driving laws has failed, at least for 2010.

Senate Bill 1475 would have would more than doubled fines on the trio of distracted driving laws that the senator pushed through in recent years. The bill also would have applied the laws against text messaging and use of handheld cell phones to California’s bicyclists.

“The deadline for bills to pass the Appropriations Committee was Aug. 13, and since the cell phone bill did not pass the committee by the deadline, it died there,” said Phil Yost of Simitian’s office.

Simitian, D-Palo Alto, has said compliance with California’s distracted driving laws is good, but “there’s room for improvement.” He was seeking “a more significant deterrent” with the increased distracted driving fines.

California’s ban on text messaging while driving went into effect on Jan. 1, 2009. Fines start at $20 and go to $50 for repeat offenses. With fees, the cost of violating the state text messaging law easily tops $200.

Simitian’s bill for 2010 sought to add a point against driver’s licenses for distracted driving violations. He later amended the bill to make the point apply on the second offense.

Bicyclists groups created the early opposition to the bill, and its proposed fines were lowered in response (to $20/$50 with no points per the amendment of April 6).

California’s brutal budget crisis would have received some help from the doubled fines. The Assembly Committee on Appropriations estimated increased distracted driving fines under Senate Bill 1475 would bring in another $32 million annually.

Texting, California driving don’t mix

California’s text-messaging law went into effect on Jan. 1, making it illegal for drivers to use wireless devices to send, receive or read electronic files while on the road.

The new law joins two other laws affecting drivers that took effect in midsummer: a ban on the use of cell phones unless a hands-free device is enabled, and a total ban on cell phone use by motorists under 18.

(Update): In the first month, the Highway Patrol wrote 88 citations for text messaging statewide. That does not include tickets from deputies and police.

Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, pushed through the cell phone and text messaging legislation. The other two laws went into effect July 1, but Simitian decided to wait on the text messaging legislation for strategic reasons.

“We have had far too many tragic incidents around the country that are painful proof that this is a terrible problem,” the state senator said. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the Simitian anti-text messaging bill SB 28 on Sept. 25.

Texting while driving fines start at $20 and go to $50 for repeat offenses. With fees, the cost of violating California’s new text messaging law could hit $200. No points are charged against the driver’s license. (These are the same fines for cell phone violations.)

The law applies regardless of whether a vehicle is stopped at a light or in heavy traffic. Drivers may text- message while parked or legally pulled off the road, regardless of whether the engine is running, the California Highway Patrol says. Stopping on a freeway for reasons other than emergencies is prohibited by state law.

California’s new texting law applies to communications between two people. It does not prohibit use of a wireless device’s keyboard for for dialing phone numbers (assuming a hands-free device is employed during the call) or for enabling a voice-dialing application. Keyboarding in order to access cell phone GPS functions is allowed as well.

The state is particularly sensitive to the text messaging problem, following reports that a commuter train operator in the San Fernando Valley was sending and receiving written communications before a deadly crash.

California becomes the sixth state to outlaw text messaging while behind the wheel. The other states are Washington, Minnesota, New Jersey, Alaska and Louisiana. Numerous other states are considering bans on texting while driving. Local and regional prohibitions on texting have been taking effect nationwide as evidence continues to point to the practice as a factor in many accidents.

California: Cell phone laws, legislation

Calfornia distracted driving news: The CHP’s yearlong “Adult Distracted Driving II” campaign continues through Sept. 30, 2012. By the time that grant money runs out, 50 distracted driving enforcement operations will have been conducted statewide. Funding originated with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

California drivers consider cell phone use the No. 1 menace on the roads, followed closely by text messaging. A state traffic safety office survey about roadway perils found that cell phoning and texting by drivers both overtook 2010′s No. 1 worry, “speeding and aggressive driving.” (Read the California traffic safety survey.)

A plan to more than double fines for distracted driving violations was vetoed by the governor Sept. 7. Gov. Jerry Brown said Sen. Joe Simitian’s SB 28 would have made fines too expensive “for people of ordinary means” (more on SB 28 below).

Current prohibitions:

• Adult drivers (18 and older) banned from using cell phones unless they employ hands-free devices.
• Drivers may not use wireless devices to “to write, send, or read a text-based communication” — as in text messaging.
• Minors are prohibited from using wireless phones while driving — with or without hands-free accessories.
• School bus operators and transit bus drivers prohibited from using cell phones while driving.

View the California text messaging law | cell phone law | teen wireless device law

Cell phone and text-messaging fines: First offense $20. Other convictions, $50. “With court costs and penalties, the true costs of those tickets are $76 and $190, respectively,” the Los Angeles Times reports.

Distracted driving notes (2012):
The California Highway Patrol’s New Year’s “zero tolerance” sweep of distracted drivers yielded 115 tickets. The Dec. 30-31 crackdown snared 111 drivers for handheld cell phone use, and four for text messaging. Sixteen warnings were handed out. A CHP spokesman said distracted driving violators had become “pretty blatant” in 2011.

2011 distracted driving notes:
The state Senate and House approved Sen. Joe Simitian’s SB 28, a reprise of his 2010 plan to more than double fines for distracted driving violations. That wasn’t enough: The 2011 bill was sent to Gov. Jerry Brown on Aug. 15, and he vetoed it weeks later.

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

San Francisco’s airport (SFO) wants visitors to know the state cell phone and texting laws for drivers. New advisory signs have gone up at auto rental counters as well as at entrances to fleet garages. San Francisco International also will post traffic signs on the garages’ exit ramps and on the exit road, Bay City News reported.

Use of push-to-talk cell phones are no longer legal for use by truck drivers as of July 1, 2011 — in state-speak, that’s “a digital two-way radio that utilizes a wireless telephone that operates by depressing a push-to-talk feature.” Truck and tractor-trailer operators will have to get hands-free accessories to be in compliance, just like the rest of us.

Traffic deaths in the Golden State were down 12 percent in 2010, from 3,081 deaths in 2009 to 2,715 in 2010. California Highway Patrol Commissioner Joe Farrow said: “Through the behavioral changes of the motoring public, like buckling up, designating a non-drinking driver and eliminating distractions, progress is made daily, resulting in lives saved.” The Office of Traffic Safety announced July 20 that $76 million from federal funding has been awarded, which will be spent on law enforcement crackdowns and education, such as the new peer-to-peer project, Teens in the Driver’s Seat.

California’s monthlong spring crackdown on distracted driving yielded more than 52,664 citations. The sweep came in conjunction with Distracted Driving Month (April). Statewide fatalities were down 7 percent from April 2010, but the Office of Traffic Safety said it wasn’t clear this had anything to do with the cell phone and texting crackdown.

April was the first Distracted Driving Awareness Month, which inspired the California Highway Patrol to run a long-term sweep against violators of the state’s distracted driving laws. More than 100 California Highway Patrol units and 225 police departments established zero-tolerance days for cell phone and texting violations.

2011-2012 cell phone, texting legislation:
Senate Bill 28: Seeks to hike fines for using handheld cell phones or text messaging while driving to $50 (first offense) and $100. (Current fines are $20/$50.) Would mandate a drivers license point for each offense following the first. Bicyclists included, but fines would be $20/$50 with no additional fees and no points against license. Similar to Simitian’s SB 1475 from the 2010 session, with these two changes: Point against license assessed only after second violation; texting permitted with “voice-operated, hands-free devices.” The measure provides $10 of each fine to education programs about the dangers of distracted driving.

SB 28 legislative history: Approved by the Senate Transportation Committee in a 6-3 vote on March 29; amended and approved by the Appropriations Committee in a 5-1 vote on April 11. Approved by the Senate in a 24-12 vote on April 25. Latest legislative action: Approved by the Assembly Transportation Committee in a 13-1 vote on June 14. Cleared Appropriations in a 10-5 vote on July 6. Approved by the full House on July 14 and returned to the Senate for its approval of the House’s amendments. Sent to the governor for his approval on Aug. 15. Vetoed by the governor Sept. 7. (Simitian)

2010 distracted driving notes:
Cell phone use by drivers ranked No. 2 in a survey about the biggest safety problems on California’s highways. In Southern California, texting and driving was seen as more of a danger than in the northern part of the state. About 45 percent of respondents said they’d made a mistake while using a cell phone while driving. The state Office of Traffic Safety survey, released in mid-November, was based on interviews with 1,671 drivers at gas stations throughout California. (Speeding and aggressive driving ranked No. 1 on the list of dangers.) Update: In 2011, both cell phone use and texting were seen as more significant dangers than speeding/aggressive driving, which came in third.

The California Highway Patrol’s Coastal Division conducted a two-day sweep on cell phone violations, on Nov. 23 and 24. In the region between Santa Cruz and Ventura, 368 tickets for cell phone use were handed out by the CHP and local law officers. One driver was cited for text messaging.

The California Highway Patrol ran two day-long crackdowns on distracted driving during October 2010. The days were Oct. 5 and Oct. 26. Southern California law officers have been focusing on distracted driving all month.

State Sen. Joe Simitian said he “was at a loss” to explain his SB 1475′s death in committee. “The problem hasn’t gone away and we’ll take a look at it at some point in the future,” he told the Napa Valley Register.

As the 2010 session began, Simitian said he’d “heard repeatedly that the current fines are too modest. They wouldn’t be anymore” under his SB 1475. The senator did back down a bit on the new fines for bicyclists due to protests from riders groups.

Simitian’s law banning drivers’ use of handheld cell phones has resulted in “at least 700 fewer fatalities and 75,000 to 100,000 fewer collisions each year.” He said Feb. 17 that California Highway Patrol data show “an immediate drop” of 40 percent to 50 percent in accidents linked to cell phone use.

“We’ve been able to reduce the number of deaths and crashes even as we’ve seen more drivers and more cell phones out on the highway,” said Simitian.

The percentage of people texting and driving has doubled in Southern California despite the statewide ban on the distracted driving practice, the area’s Auto Club says. Handheld cell phone use remains about the same, the organization reported, based on its “observational” studies in Orange County. Read the story: Auto Club: Texting & driving soaring

The California Highway Patrol says it has issued about 283,000 tickets for use of handheld cell phones (as of mid-September 2010). The CHP also reports a total of 3,742 text messaging tickets. The California cell phone law went into effect July 1, 2008, and enforcement of the texting ban began Jan. 1, 2009.

The CHP reported June 30, 2010: “Cell phones are the leading, identifiable, contributing factor to inattentive driver crashes in California. … “There have been more than 1,200 collisions throughout the state where a contributing factor was inattention by the driver due to cell phone usage. Those same collisions resulted in 16 fatalities and more than 850 victims injured.”

The CHP writes about two-thirds of the distracted driving tickets issued statewide, at a rate of 12,000 to 14,000 a month.

California’s Central Valley was targeted for a 48-hour distracted driving crackdown in late-September 2010. Almost 2,100 drivers were ticketed for use of handheld cell phones. Texting resulted in 67 tickets.

Bay Area law enforcement agencies and the California Highway Patrol ran a zero-tolerance sweep on distracted drivers during August. Drivers talking talking on their cell phones or text messaging were targeted. The crackdown began Aug. 10, with CHP issuing 348 cell phone violations and two for texting. On Aug. 18, the numbers were 703 and 55.

The Assembly Committee on Appropriations estimates increased distracted driving fines under Senate Bill 1475 would bring in another $32 million annually.

2010 cell phone, texting legislation:
Senate Bill 1475: Would have increased fines for using handheld cell phones or text messaging while driving to $50 (first offense) and $100. (Current fines are $20/$50.) Would mandate a drivers license point for each offense following the first. Bicyclists would be included in the cell phone and texting prohibitions, but fines would be $20/$50 with no points (per amendment of April 6). Allows police to pull over teen drivers suspected of using cell phones. The measure provides $10 of each fine to education programs about the dangers of distracted driving.

SB 1475 legislative history: Amended and approved by the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee (April 6, 5-1 vote). Cleared the Senate Appropriations Committee (May 10, 6-3 vote). The full Senate approved the bill on June 3 in a 21-16 vote. Cleared the Assembly Committee on Transportation June 22 in 8-6 vote. Failed to advance in the Appropriations Committee.

Latest action on SB 1475: Dead for the year. (Simitian)

Previous cell phone legislation notes:
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed SB 33, the hands-free cell phone bill, into law in September 2006.

State Sen. Joe Simitian had been trying to pass the bill for six years. He was resisted by all of the major cell phone providers except Verizon, although in the end only Sprint protested the action. After SB 33 passed, the senator later succeeded with SB 1613, which places the cell phone and texting limits on teen drivers.

Then Simitian added the ban on text-messaging while driving to the state’s lawbooks in late September 2008, when Schwarzenegger signed the legislation. SB 28 was approved and sent to the governor on Aug. 21, 2008. It took effect Jan. 1, 2009.

View the posts:
Simitian: Hike Calif. distracted driving fines
Simitian defends California cell phone ban
California spikes drivers’ text messaging
California’s hands-free law now in effect