WASHINGTON-New Jersey, one of only a handful of states to ban driver use of handheld cell phones, is considering a stiffer penalty to address an ongoing national problem that has defied legislative and common-sense solutions to date.
Meantime, momentum is building in other states and municipalities to curb drivers’ use of cell phones and other potentially distracting activities.
Earlier this month, New Jersey’s Senate Law and Public Safety and Veterans’ Affairs Committee approved a bipartisan bill to make driver use of handheld phone a primary offense. The law is currently enforceable as a secondary offense, meaning an offender has to be stopped by police for some other violation before a ticket can be issued for unlawful use of a handheld mobile phone.
“This bill would establish the unlawful use of a handheld wireless telephone while operating a motor vehicle as a primary offense. This change would authorize law enforcement officers to stop and ticket motorists whenever they are observed unlawfully using a handheld wireless telephone,” said Senate President Richard Codey (D). The co-sponsor of the measure is Sen. Joseph Palaia (R)
The Codey-Palaia bill also provides that whenever a handheld driver offense is used as an alternative in a plea agreement for another motor vehicle offense, motor vehicle points could be assessed. The penalty would be the same as that for driving a motor vehicle in an unsafe manner.
The Senate panel amended the bill to delay the effective date until four months after the measure would be enacted. The original bill would have required the new law to become effective immediately.
New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and the District of Columbia prohibit drivers from talking on handheld phones while driving, but allow drivers to use hands-free devices even though studies say such gadgets do not improve driver concentration and may even increase distraction.
Many states across the country also are addressing the issue. State legislatures are revisiting driver-distraction bans. Legislation runs the gamut, from outright bans on driver use of handheld phones to targeted restrictions on teen drivers and bus drivers. Some states want police to collect data at traffic accident scenes on whether cell phones were being used at the time of the accident.
State efforts to take all wireless phone technology out the hands of inexperienced teen drivers has gained the most traction in recent years, with at least eight states moving to do just that in 2005.
Despite pronouncements by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and National Transportation Safety Board, as well as fatalities associated with drivers either talking or dialing another party while behind the wheel, the driver-distraction issue is constantly being revisited because it is a thorny problem to address through legislation.
While talking on a cell phone while driving can be distracting, cell phones are one of many distractions. Moreover, cell phones offer drivers safety benefits, while other driver distractions have only downsides. The wireless industry, which emphasizes safety education over legislation, is fond of emphasizing these points.
“An emerging trend in legislation is to address multiple behaviors-not only cell-phone use-on the road,” writes Matt Sundeen, a specialist on distracted driving for the National Conference of State Legislatures. “The ordinance passed by the District of Columbia in 2004 prohibits several potential distracting driver behaviors, including reading, writing, personal grooming, interacting with pets or unsecured cargo, using personal communications technologies, or engaging in other activities that cause distractions.”
Sundeen said other state legislatures have examined driver use of televisions and DVD players, with at least 38 states restricting or prohibiting televisions in motor vehicles. California and Louisiana, he added, enacted laws in 2003 to restrict the placement of DVD players and similar entertainment devices to locations out of the vision of the driver.
Several years ago, Democrats in Congress championed bills to outlaw driver use of handheld phones on a national level. However, House and Senate bills did not move an inch.
