Spokane County drivers most likely to talk, text on road

Spokane County drivers are among the worst in Washington when it comes to using cellphones while driving.

A study in 2013 showed that 14.5 percent of local drivers talked or texted on their phones. Two-thirds of those observed using cellphones were sending or receiving text messages – higher than in other counties.

This first-ever study was conducted through the University of Washington and its Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center.

Investigators observed behind-the-wheel behavior of thousands of drivers at intersections in Spokane, King, Snohomish, Pierce, Yakima and Whatcom counties. Spokane drivers had the highest cellphone use, followed by Whatcom County, 12.5 percent; King, 9 percent; Yakima, 8.6 percent; Pierce, 5.4 percent; and Snohomish, 4.3 percent.

Washington banned cellphone use while driving in 2008. Distracted driving is now considered as serious as driving under the influence. Experts say that holding a cellphone to your ear and talking on it is equivalent to having blood-alcohol level of 0.08 percent, which is the state threshold for intoxication, according to the Washington Traffic Safety Commission.

Texting is worse. It’s like having a blood-alcohol level of 0.19 percent, more than double the state threshold, the commission said.

Using a cellphone to talk while driving increases the risk of a crash fourfold. Texting increases the risk by a factor of 23.

As a result, the commission is financing enforcement emphasis patrols to catch drivers using their cellphones. It is part of a campaign to eliminate all traffic deaths in Washington by 2030.

“Enforcement is the key,” said Karen Wigen, the Target Zero task force manager in Spokane County.

“We are trying to get more compliance with the law so we can save lives,” she said.

The state commission is funding patrols in Spokane County and northeast Washington once a month in addition to the statewide campaign against distracted driving that comes in April.

Jim and Lisa Thompson, of Colfax, lost their 20-year-old son, Samuel Thompson, in a crash blamed on distracted driving on U.S. Highway 195 south of Colfax last September.

Samuel Thompson’s car crossed the centerline and collided head-on with a semitruck.

Investigators learned that at the time of the crash he was texting a friend.

“Please, put that phone down,” Jim Thompson said last week. “You don’t realize the devastation.”

Thompson and his wife have established a website, 2stayalive4me.com, to urge drivers to stop using cellphones. Also, Jim Thompson is available for public speaking about the problem, especially to school-age audiences. He said he can be reached through the website or at (509) 432-9577.  

Thompson said his son was a popular student at Colfax High School, where he played running back on the football team, and was enrolled at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, where he was studying business and criminology.

In 2009, a 16-year-old girl from Nine Mile Falls died in a crash on Monroe Road in north Spokane County while talking to her boyfriend on her phone despite icy conditions, officials said.

Proving cellphone use in an investigation can be difficult. Often, survivors of victims will volunteer that information, Wigen said.

Officers trying to enforce the law often are told by drivers that they were looking down for some reason other than to use their cellphone, she said.

Spokane work

In Spokane, sidewalk replacement is underway on the north side of Spokane Falls Boulevard at the Convention Center between Washington and Bernard streets.

Also, a portion of First Avenue will be closed this week between Lincoln and Wall streets for crane work.

County gets grants

Spokane County has learned that it will receive $1.2 million to replace a bridge on Monroe Road and $1.5 million for a new bridge on Ritchey Road over Deep Creek. The county will have to match the state grants by up to 20 percent.