Spokane7
33°
March 10, 2010 in Opinion
Editorial: Cell phones pose danger, no matter who’s driving
No phone calls, no texting while driving. If you do, you could get pulled over and hit with a $124 ticket.
That’s what a Washington state Senate bill called for. And it easily passed. But late last week it was hit broadside by House members who would rather save dogma than lives.
“The libertarian in me comes out with these types of issues,” said Rep. Dan Roach, R-Bonney Lake.
His amendment last week kept texting as a primary offense for all drivers. But only 16- and 17-year-old drivers could be pulled over for the primary offense of driving while chatting on a handheld phone. For adults it would remain a secondary offense, meaning a law enforcement officer would need to identify another violation before acting.
Pity the officers who would have to guess the age of drivers before acting. And if an 18-year-old talker is pulled over? “Sorry, you’re free to go.” Many officers won’t bother. Many don’t bother now, because they don’t like to write two tickets at once.
In any event, the House amendment passed, but on Saturday the Senate voted to reject it. Now it’s a standoff, with some hope that sanity will prevail.
Generally speaking, all driving by teens is more dangerous than driving by adults, but the research is clear that adult drivers using cell phones are a danger to others. It’s also clear that adults are routinely flouting the law as a secondary offense. A new Pemco Insurance survey shows that 41 percent of drivers admit to ignoring the ban, which is up from 17 percent in 2007.
The state went down the same long, predictable road with seat belts, fending off libertarian appeals along the way. It took 16 years for that violation to go from a secondary to primary offense. It’s no surprise that compliance was at 36 percent in 1986 and is now more than 96 percent, thanks to a change in the law in 2002.
The threat of the ticket matters. Odds are pretty low of getting one now.
Some legislators made the old arguments about other distractions being dangerous, too. And it’s true that fiddling with car controls, changing CDs and snacking are also poor choices, but research shows that conducting phone calls is even more dangerous. There is something extra-engrossing about that sustained distraction that causes reaction times to slow. A University of Utah study showed that talking on a cell phone can be as bad as drunken driving.
When Connecticut made handheld phone calls a primary offense, violations dropped by 65 percent. It’s disingenuous to focus on teen drivers when it’s obvious that adults are also putting others in danger. Teens are fond of saying, “That’s so not fair!” And, in this instance, they’re right.
A hypocrite by necessity 
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allen_r_johnson on March 10 at 10:31 a.m.
So, let me get this straight, using a cell phone while driving is failing to use ordinary caution, right? Then let’s enforce the law that we have! RCW 46.61.525 provides penalties for “…the doing of some act that a reasonably careful person would not do under the same or similar circumstances…”.
Get a clue, we seldom need “new” laws. What we need is the political will to enforce the laws we already have.
CharlesBillford on March 11 at 12:29 a.m.
Amen Allen Johnson.
and what about all them truckers on the CB 10-4 good buddy?
So if I have a fake Cell Phone and pretend to talk on it and they pull me over.. will I get a ticket?