Ohio's long-running debate over distracted driving reached a major turning point as legislation banning texting and driving advanced to a receptive governor. The measure, however, did not succeed without controversy. The Senate heavily amended the original House proposal, limiting most enforcement to secondary status. The House went along, and House Bill 99 was sent to Gov. John Kasich, who indicated he would sign it. The law goes into effect 90 days after Kasich's approval. A warning period will begin at that time, with ticketing on hold for six months. The fine is $150. Ohio most likely … [Read more...]
West Va. bans texting, cell phones
March 10, 2012 by 6 Comments
"I want West Virginians to remain free from distracted drivers," Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin told lawmakers back in January. They listened. The governor's advocacy proved to be the key to breaking the state's long deadlock over distracted driving, with the Legislature approving his plan to outlaw text messaging and the use of handheld cell phones for those operating motor vehicles. (Update: Tombin signed the West Virginia distracted driving legislation into law on April 3. This article originally posted March 10, 2012.) As time expired on the legislative session late March 10, the House and … [Read more...]
OTS: Calif. cell phone deaths falling
March 5, 2012 by Leave a Comment
California fatalities linked to handheld cell phone use fell by almost half following enactment of the state's ban on use of the wireless devices while driving, a new study indicates. In the two years following the July 2008 adoption of the distracted driving law, handheld cell phone driver deaths decreased 47 percent, the Safe Transportation Research and Education Center (SafeTREC) at the University of California, Berkeley, found. Similar reductions occurred in the number of injuries, as well as deaths associated with cell phone use with hands-free accessories, SafeTREC said. Overall, … [Read more...]
Text messaging tickets soar in N.Y.
February 15, 2012 by 3 Comments
New York state has seen text messaging ticketing take a sharp rise since since tougher enforcement of electronic distracted driving laws went into effect in July 2011. Overall, law enforcement officers wrote almost 120,000 electronic distracted driving tickets in the seven months from July 12, 2011, to Feb. 7, 2012. Text messaging violations saw the most significant increase, to 7,495 tickets. A new state law made text messaging subject to primary enforcement, while a DMV policy added a third point against the driver's license of electronic distracted driving violators. The bulk of the … [Read more...]
Alaska texting law gets a rewrite
January 5, 2012 by 1 Comment
A pair of state representatives have submitted to the Legislature a new version of Alaska's text messaging law to ensure its intent is clear to the courts. 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 … [Read more...]
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