A proposed House bill that would ban people from sending or reading text messages while driving has hit a bump in the road. Stumped by questions about how the new law would be enforced and how would a police officer determine if someone was sending a text message as opposed to say, making a phone call, forced the House of Representative’s public safety committee to send the bill to a study committee.
“It’s a valid question,” said Rep. Allen Peake (R-Bibb County), the author of one of two bills that would ban texting. “This is the way it should be done. I look forward to perfecting the bill.
Peake, along with Rep. Amos Amerson (R-Dahlonega), both testified Wednesday about their similar bills that would ban texting, while imposing healthy fines and points on an offender’s driver’s license. But committee chairman Burke Day said, based on the number of questions, that it would best to further study both bills and refine them into one.
Two weeks ago, the two House members dropped the no texting bills. Peake’s bill, HB 938, says that anyone found guilty of writing, sending or reading a text message while driving would be fined $50 to $100 and have two points placed on their drivers’ license. Amerson’s bill places the fine at $300.
“With the proliferation of cell phone usage, we must address this clear and persistent public safety issue,” Peake said.
So popular is texting that in a hearing Wednesday on two of the bills pending in the House, both one of the authors and the head of the Georgia Chiefs of Police Association each admitted to thumb-typing messages with one hand while steering with the other.
"I will tell you I am an expert at texting while driving," said Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon.
Several bills have been filed in the General Assembly:
- House Bill 23: Prohibits drivers younger than 18 from texting or making cell phone calls while on a public road; exempts messages for emergencies and emergency personnel; assesses two points against the driver's record; imposes a 90-day suspension of license for the first offense, six months for additional offenses. Sponsored by Rep. Matt Ramsey, R-Peachtree City, this is the only texting bill to have passed one chamber after the House approved it last year and the Senate Public Safety Committee recommended its passage.
- HB 938: Same definitions and exemptions as HB23 but without an age restriction; assesses two points against the driver's record; imposes a 90-day suspension of license for the first offense, six months for additional offenses; sponsored by Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon.
- HB 944: Prohibits use of cell phone, laptop or texting while operating a vehicle on a public road; $300 fine; sponsored by Rep. Amos Amerson, R-Dahlonega.
- Senate Bill 327: Prohibits texting while operating a vehicle on a public road; exempts cell phone calls and devices permanently attached to the vehicle; one point and $175 fine for first offense, two points and $500 fine for additional offenses; fines double if an accident is caused; sponsored by Sen. Steve Thompson, D-Marietta.
Objections include those from people who say ample laws already cover distracted driving carrying stiffer penalties, such as reckless driving. Others say it will be difficult to enforce. "How will our uniform officers be able to determine if I am texting or talking on the phone?" asked Rep. Gloria Frazier, D-Hephzibah.
Frank Rotondo, executive director of the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police, said officers would have to use their judgment but wouldn't pull over drivers without strong suspicions.
Prosecution could be difficult because officers may not have a right to examine an electronic device or phone records without a court order and questions about personal privacy. "The phone, at that point, is not something that I believe, under current law, that [an officer] can take and read," said Rep. Doug Collins, R-Gainesville, an attorney who defends people accused of traffic violations.
Because of the numerous questions raised in the House Public Safety & Homeland Security Committee, chairman Burke Day assigned HB 938 and 944 to a subcommittee for further study. A Senate committee will have to again review HB 23 and could amend it to include drivers of all ages. SB327 is awaiting action in the Senate Public Safety Committee.
Banning texting while driving has gained traction in state legislative chambers throughout the nation. So far, 28 states have a complete or partial ban on texting while driving. Drivers in Tennessee busted for the offense can be fined $50 plus $10 in court costs. Alabama, Florida, Kentucky and South Carolina are the other Southern states with no ban on typing text messages while behind the wheel. Georgia has no limits on cell phone use while driving, except for prohibiting bus drivers from using them. The U.S. Department of Transportation made headlines last week with an announcement that truck and bus drivers caught while driving commercial vehicles and texting could face fines up to $2,750. Last year, President Barack Obama signed an executive order directing federal employees not to text message while driving government-owned vehicles or operating government-owned equipment. The federal government has tried to tackle what is viewed as a growing problem of distracted driving. The Web site www.distraction.gov lists several statistics about the dangers of not paying attention while driving. • Research by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration found drivers who text take their eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds out of every six seconds. At 55 miles per hour, the driver is traveling the length of a football field, including the end zones, without looking at the road. That’s 120 yards. • Drivers who text while driving are more than 20 times more likely to get in a wreck than non-distracted drivers.• In 2008, nearly 6,000 people died in crashes that involved distracted driving.It’s also become a hot button issue in the media. Earlier this month, a 19-year-old Lilburn resident was hospitalized after crashing his car into a telephone pole. He was text messaging a friend moments before the wreck. An Alabama woman was killed Thursday after a driver ran a red light at an intersection. State troopers believe texting while driving played a role in the accident. But do cell phone bans really work?A study released Friday by the Highway Loss Data Institute, an affiliate of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, found no decrease in crashes after hand-held phone bans were enacted in three states and Washington, D.C. Comparing insurance claims for crash damage there before and after the bans, researchers found steady claim rates compared with nearby areas lacking bans. “Whatever the reason, the key finding is that crashes aren’t going down where hand-held phone use has been banned,” said Adrian Lund, president of both organizations. “This finding doesn’t auger well for any safety payoff from all the new laws that ban phone use and texting while driving.” Colmans and the not-for-profit industry association he represents push for educating drivers about distracted driving. But he realizes that laws don’t stop people from breaking them.“How many laws do we have against drunk driving?” Colmans said. “How many laws do we have against following too closely? The fact that you have a law certainly does help from an enforcement standpoint because it’s something you can add on to the impact of being involved in an accident or getting stopped. It’s not going to stop because there is a law, but it will help from the standpoint of, ‘If I get caught doing this and I’m in an accident, I’m in more trouble than I would have been before.’”
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