LAWMAKER PUSHES FOR LAWS ON CELL PHONE USE WHILE DRIVING
By SONU MUNSHI
Cronkite News Service
PHOENIX (Monday, Nov. 26) _ People will continue to die unnecessarily until Arizonans wake up to the danger of driving while using cell phones, a Democratic state lawmaker says.
Rep. Steve Farley, D-Tucson, said he plans once again to seek a law that makes text-messaging while driving illegal. And he isn’t stopping there.
Farley said he wants to ban drivers from talking on cell phones unless they are using hands-free devices. He also wants to ban drivers under 18 from using cell phones even if they use hands-free sets.
“Using a mobile phone and driving is just as dangerous as drunk driving,” Farley said. “As lawmakers, it’s our duty to make our roads safe for everyone.”
During the last legislative session, Farley proposed a statewide ban on driving while text-messaging, but the bill didn’t get a hearing. Farley’s measure would have made the practice a secondary offense, meaning an officer would have to pull a driver over for something else before issuing a citation for texting.
Farley said high-profile accidents in the past year involving text-messaging drivers, including a crash that killed a Chino Valley woman, will help push legislation during the session that begins in January.
Also in the past year, the city of Phoenix banned text-messaging while driving.
“The rising number of texting-related accidents in the state will make this issue a priority this time around in the Legislature,” said City Councilman Greg Stanton, who championed the Phoenix ban.
However, Sen. Ron Gould, R-Lake Havasu City, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, said there are enough laws against distracted driving. He said further legislation is a waste of time.
“If it comes to my committee I would hold it,” Gould said.
Susan Bitter Smith, chairwoman of the Arizona Competitive Telecommunications Coalition, said the cell phone industry supports using phones safely, but she said the focus should be on all kinds of distracted behavior.
“Smoking, eating, shaving _ all these distractions need to be addressed,” Bitter Smith said. “We don’t believe that using single device legislation accomplishes anything.”
A 2006 study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) found cell phone use to be the most common distraction while driving. However, it was less likely to be the cause of a crash or near-miss than some other distractions, such as reaching for a falling cup or being drowsy.
Simon Washington, a civil engineering professor and transportation expert at Arizona State University, said numerous studies suggest that cell phones are a distraction.
“Drivers take a major risk every time they flip up their phone,” Washington said.
“We prosecute people driving at a blood-alcohol content of 0.08,” Washington said. “Using cell phones is as dangerous.”
A poll conducted in April by the Social Research Laboratory at Northern Arizona University found that 54 percent of Arizonans favored a ban on speaking on a cell phone while driving. Sixty-two percent favored a ban on text-messaging while driving.
A Cronkite/Eight Poll conducted in September found that 87 percent of voters surveyed favored a statewide ban on text-messaging while driving.