Cops prepare for new cell phone rules

JASON HAWK EDITOR

Police across Ohio will be able to stop anyone they spot using cell phones while behind the wheel starting April 3.

But like other drivers, officers are also learning what the new law bans and what it allows.

“It is absolutely a makessense kind of law. We will do what we have to do and train for it,” said Oberlin Police Chief Ryan Warfield, though he said everyone — including cops — may have a hard time adjusting.

With every new law, there is a learning curve, said Warfield. Ohio House Bill 288 targets distracted driving, and at first glance seems to bar drivers from using phones at all.

That’s not strictly the case, however: Drivers can still use a phone while their vehicle is parked, or even stopped at a red light. They can swipe their phones to answer a call and hold their phones to their ear to talk.

Emergency calls aren’t prohibited by the bill’s language.

Nor does HB 288 give police the right to search a phone without a warrant.

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled in 2009 that the Fourth Amendment applies to electronic devices, with extremely narrow exceptions. For example, officers can seize a phone to prevent a suspect from destroying evidence of a crime — but they still can’t look at its contents without a warrant. There is also some concern that the new law will be used as a pretext to profile and pull over drivers of color.

The Ohio Legislative Black Caucus tried to load HB 288 with a requirement for police to get anti-bias training, saying a disproportionate number of Black drivers are stopped, but its members were shut down.

The OLBC raises a fair point, said Jeanine Donaldson, executive director of the Elyria/ Lorain YWCA and Lorain County Racial Equity Center.

“So much of what folks have been concerned about since George Floyd’s murder at the hands of police, and anything with police profiling, is we are concerned there hasn’t been enough training for police officers to understand the implicit bias they have,” she said.

“Implicit bias” refers to ingrained prejudices that people absorb and reflect without consciously intending to, according to researchers at Stanford University.

Lorain police Lt. Jacob Morris pushed back against the idea officers have implicit bias. Lorain has a zero-tolerance policy against profiling, he said.

Any law in the wrong hands can be misused, said Morris.

Capt. Richard Bosley of the Lorain County Sheriff’s Office said he does not believe the new phone law will be used as a flimsy pretext to stop drivers without a true cause, though he acknowledged it could happen.

Instead, it’s “a good public safety law” designed to prevent tragedies, he said.

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“Trust me: I don’t every want to take anyone’s rights away, but I also don’t want to go to somebody’s house and tell them their daughter died because of distracted driving,” he said.

Bosley said he used to use his phone while driving, too. After watching the number of horrific crashes climb each year due to distracted driving, he’s retired the habit.

“Now I won’t look at my phone. If I get a text while I’m driving somewhere, I won’t look at it until I stop,” he said.

Warfield said he can see why some people of color are nervous about how the new law will be enforced. But he said in his mind those concerns are outweighed by what’s at stake.

“What’s the balance? Is it one life? Two lives?” he asked.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol has tracked distracted driving crashes since 2018 and said there have been 60,585 since then. It should be noted that number reflects crashes caused by all kinds of distractions, not just phones.

Last year, the OSHP counted 34 fatal crashes statewide and 267 involving serious injury.

Using a phone while driving is “just as deadly as driving drunk,” Gov. Mike DeWine said after signing HB 288 in early January.

“Certainly not all fatal traffic crashes are caused by distracted driving, but it’s no coincidence that evolving smartphone technology has coincided with increasing roadway deaths and injuries,” he said. “Other states with

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The Lorain County Metro Parks offer summer camps for children ages 4 and older, with a variety of activities outdoors.

Early bird registration for Lorain County residents begins Friday, Feb.

similar distracted driving laws have experienced fewer fatal crashes, and we expect that this enhanced distracted driving law will have the same impact here.”

Amherst Police Chief Mark Cawthon said he expects to use grant dollars to put more patrolmen on Route 2 as the new law comes into play.

A stretch of the highway between Elyria and Amherst has been deemed a “safety corridor” due to frequent crashes.

“We just need to get folks to one, pay attention, and two, slow down,” Cawthon said. “Some of our officers are clocking cars in the 90s (mph) up there, and it’s not just once in a while.”

It’s not uncommon to see people swerving through heavy Route 2 traffic at high speed while texting, he said — it can be hard to tell whether they’re intoxicated or just engrossed with a screen.

As smartphone technology has become more a part of everyday life, Bosley said the corresponding increase in serious crashes has been “staggering.”

Texting behind the wheel is the worst culprit, he said. Drivers who text take their eyes of the road for long periods, and at speeds of 50 to 60 mph can travel hundreds of even thousands of feet without being aware of what’s ahead.

Avon, which has about 700 mostly low-speed collisions each year, went on the offensive against texting-while-driving behavior back in 2018, making it a primary offense inside the city limits.

Officers there started by giving warnings and handing out pamphlets to educate motorists about the consequences, said Avon Police Department spokesman James Drozdowski.

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Crash numbers haven’t been impacted much in the years since, he said — Avon is a bustling city with a ton of traffic, and crashes are going to happen, especially at packed intersections. But police now write only a couple of texting tickets each month, according to Drozdowski.

He said officers wrote one such ticket in November and one in December, and so far none in 2023 as of Tuesday.

Like their counterparts across the county and state, Avon officers are now talking about how expanded enforcement will work under the new law.

In Lorain, that will begin with educating officers, said Morris. Brass is developing a training module for the department’s 115 employees.

“That way we’re all coming from the same place,” he said.

Cawthon said Amherst officers will crack down, but “it’s not going to be a ‘gotcha’ moment. It’s more about education,” he said.

In Oberlin, Warfield isn’t planning to put more cruisers on traffic patrol to blitz drivers. He said the best approach is to get the message out to residents.

That includes Oberlin College students. Warfield said he plans to work with campus security to get word to the student body about the state’s changing expectations.

In his experience, that messaging needs to reach the oldest drivers just as much as the youngest.

Crashes are just as often caused by the 60-plus set as the 15-24 crowd, Warfield said.

Cell phones are more often a contributing factor with younger drivers, though, he said.

Bosley said law enforcement needs to begin by looking in the mirror. Police officers and sheriff’s deputies have phones and laptops in their cruisers, and need to adhere to the law, too. They are not legally required to follow the new law, though. HB 288 makes law enforcement exempt.

While the change will go into effect in April, there is a 6-month grace period before police can start writing tickets.

On Tuesday, Oct. 3, drivers who break the law can face fines of up to $150 and a two-point driver’s license deduction for the first offense.

Bosley said he doesn’t expect all drivers to change their behavior in 2023.

He compared the crackdown on cell phone use to when Ohio’s mandatory seat belt law was introduced in 1986.

Thirty-seven years later, police and deputies still write plenty of seat belt citations, he said.

Bosley said he suspects law enforcement will struggle to make headway with phone laws “until we have autonomous selfdriving cars.”

Drozdowski shared the same reservations.

“There are a lot of people who are not going to pay attention to this,” he said. “They just won’t.”

Nordson CEO named honorary chair of Harvest for Hunger

STAFF REPORT

Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio has named Nordson Corporation President and CEO Sundaram “Naga” Nagarajan honorary chairperson of its 2023 Harvest for Hunger campaign.

Harvest for Hunger is an annual food and funding drive carried out by Second Harvest in cooperation with two other Feeding America food banks in northern Ohio.

It is the largest food and funding drive in the country, according to a news release from Second Harvest.

“I am proud to serve as the Honorary Chair of the 2023 Harvest for Hunger Campaign and rally businesses and organizations in our community to join this important effort to help our entire community combat hunger and create access to nutritious meals,” Nagarajan said in a news release.

Founded in Amherst and now headquartered in Westlake, Nordson is a manufacturing and design company that mainly specializes in dispensers for industrial and consumer use.

The founders of Nordson, Eric and Evan Nord, started the County Cupboard in the 1980s. It would eventually become Second Harvest.

“Nordson and Second Harvest have a storied history,” President and CEO of Second Harvest Julie Chase-Morefield said in a release.

Chase-Morefield said Nagarajan was selected not just because of this connection between the two entities, but also because of his commitment to helping the people of Lorain County.

“Naga has embraced his role as a leader in the community and has a passion for our mission,” she said. “We’re thrilled he is serving as the 2023 Honorary Chairperson for one of the most vital campaigns we participate in each year.”

Second Harvest said the goal for this year’s Harvest for Hunger campaign is to raise the funds to provide 2.5 million meals to those struggling with food insecurity in northern Ohio.

Along with Nordson and other Feeding America organizations, Second Harvest will work with Giant Eagle, Heinen’s and other local businesses.

“We know we have individuals and families with children right here in our community who are hungry,” Nagarajan said.

“When you are hungry and do not know where your next meal will come from, everything else becomes secondary. Couple that need with inflation hitting a 40-year high, and there has never been a more important time to give.”

There will be a kick-off event for the campaign at the Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio in Lorain at 4 p.m. on Thursday, March 2.

Second Harvest’s goal for 2023 is to provide more than 2.5 million meals to families in need.

For more information, call (440) 960-2265.