Cell-Phone Laws & Driving

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the Highway Loss Data Institute posted the following findings in this month about cell-phone laws in the United States.  The information below can also be found here http://www.iihs.org/default.html.

After taking an initial look at the laws below regarding cell-phone use on American roadways, I began to ponder exactly why society doesn’t demand greater protections for citizens when it comes to preventing accidents caused by distracted drivers in this country?

• Currently, jurisdictional bans on “driving while talking on a hand-held cell-phone” are in place in nine states.  These states include; California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Utah, and Washington as well as the District of Columbia.

• Utah coins the offense “careless driving.”  Under this particular law, “no one commits an offense when speaking on a cell-phone unless they are also committing some other moving violation (other than) speeding.”

• Depending on the jurisdiction, a locality “may or may not need specific state statutory authority to ban cell-phones or text messaging.”  Yet, many regions across the United States have already enacted restrictions on cell-phone use.  For example, the following cities currently have similar restrictions on cell-phone use in place; “Oahu, HI, Chicago, IL, Brookline, MA, Detroit, MI, Santa Fe, NM, Brooklyn, North Olmstead, and Walton Hills, OH, Conshohocken, Lebanon, and West Conshohocken, PA, Waupaca County, WI, and Cheyenne, WY.”

• Using of all cell-phones while driving a school bus is also “prohibited in nineteen states and the District of Columbia.”  Additionally, school bus drivers are banned from text messaging in Oklahoma and Texas.

• Interestingly, “the use of all cell-phones by novice drivers is restricted in twenty-eight states and the District of Columbia.”  In addition, novice drivers are banned from texting in eight states including the following; “Alabama, Indiana, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, and West Virginia.”

• Finally, “text messaging is banned for all drivers in thirty states and the District of Columbia.”

So where does this leave our California residents?  The larger issue is not whether or not California should continue to restrict cell-phone use while driving offenses but rather, whether the current bans in other states “are enforced as primary or secondary laws?”

Basically, under the theory of secondary law enforcement, “an officer must have some other reason to stop a vehicle before citing a driver for using a cell-phone.”  In contrast, “laws without this restriction are called primary.”

Perhaps if other states took a cue from their west coast neighbors, positive changes could occur more rapidly.  But the reality of the situation remains that no matter how many laws are in place, people will continue to ignore them.

In fact, I heard on the radio a few weeks ago that even in places with the most stringent of restrictions in this area, the number of people using their cell-phones while driving actually increases over time.  I hope for everyone that this claim is untrue and humbly remind California drivers that fewer distractions can help save lives.