California Tinkers with Distracted Driving Legislation for 2010
Distracted driving update: After the success of his cell phone and text messaging legislation, State Sen. Joe Simitian is back in 2010 with a plan to more than double fines for distracted driving violations. The full Senate approved the bill on June 3 and it advances to the Assembly. Currently: ● Adult drivers (18 and older) are banned from using cell phones unless they employ hands-free devices. ● Drivers may not use wireless devices to to write, send, or read anything textbased. ● Minors are prohibited from using wireless phones while driving—with or without hands-free accessories. ● School bus operators and transit bus drivers are prohibited from using cell phones while driving. Cell phone and text-messaging fines: First offense $20. Other convictions, $50. “With court costs and penalties, the true costs of those tickets are $76 and $190, respectively,” the Los Angeles Times reports. A plan to more than double these fines has been approved by the state Senate. Senate Bill 1475 would increase fines for using handheld cell phones or text messaging while driving to $50 (first offense) and $100. (Current fines are $20/$50.) It would mandate a drivers li-
cense point for each offense. Bicyclists would be included in the cell phone and texting prohibitions, but fines would be $20/$50 with no points (per amendment of April 6). The measure provides $10 of each fine to education programs about the dangers of distracted driving. Amended and approved by the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee (April 6, 5–1 vote). Cleared the Senate Appropriations Committee (May 10, 6–3 vote). The full Senate approved the bill on June 3 in a 21–16 vote. State Sen. Joe Simitian, DPalo Alto, says he’s “heard repeatedly that the current fines are too modest. They wouldn’t be anymore” under SB 1475. The senator did back down a bit on the new fines for bicyclists due to protests from riders groups. Simitian’s law banning drivers’ use of handheld cell phones has resulted in “at least 700 fewer fatalities and 75,000 to 100,000 fewer collisions each year.” Simitian said Feb. 17 that California Highway Patrol data show “an immediate drop” of 40 percent to 50 percent in accidents linked to cell phone use. “We’ve been able to reduce the number of deaths and crashes even as we’ve seen more drivers and more cell phones out on the highway,” said Simitian. CHP says it has issued more than 231,000 tickets for use of handheld cell phones (as of January 2010).
Arizona Cell Phone Laws and 2010 Legislation
An Arizona Senate plan to ban text messaging while driving was approved March 22 and has advanced in the House. A similar texting bill by the same sponsor was defeated in a close vote in summer 2009. Currently: ● School bus operators may not use cell phones while driving. ● In Phoenix, drivers are prohibited from text messaging. 2010 cell phone and texting legislation includes SB 1334: Would outlaw texing by all drivers unless a hands-free device or voiceactivated function is employed. Fine $50/$200 if an accident occurs. Approved on Feb. 15 by the Senate Committee on Natural Resources, Infrastructure and Public Debt. Defeated in the full Senate (due to tie vote) on March 2, but then approved on March 22 in a 19-10 vote. Bill now active in the House. (Melvin-Farley) Also HB 2656: Would prohibit restricted license holders under the age of 18 from using cell phones or wireless communications devices such as PDAs while driving. Violators would have restriction period extended by six months regardless of drivers’ age. (Farley) Also SB 1067: Seeks to prohibit drivers from viewing video images—includes TV, DVD. Would outlaw installation of these devices where screen can be seen by
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driver. Approved by the Senate on March 1 and transmitted to the House, where it was approved by the transportation committee. (Nelson) Sen. Al Melvin, R-Tucson, returned with legislation (SB 1334) calling for a ban on text messaging while driving on Arizona’s roads and highways. The texting bill was shot down in a tie vote on March 2. He asked for the Senate’s reconsideration since as many as eight senators were absent. The texting while driving bill was approved on March 22. In the 2009 session, Melvin’s Senate Bill 1443 included a provision to ban use of handheld cell phones, but that was stripped out in order to get the texting ban through. Even so, Melvin’s bill failed by two Senate votes. The Senate’s Republican president and its minority leader both oppose laws against texting while driving. Verizon, Sprint Nextel and AT&T are expected to support texting bans in Arizona. Phoenix’s ban on texting while driving, enacted in 2007, has resulted in an average of 1.5 tickets per month, as of November 2009. Police claim enforcement of the texting ban is quite difficult. On Feb. 23 Coconino County’s supervisors rejected a plan that would have outlawed texting while driving. They backed state efforts to rein in texting behind the wheel.
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