Texting ban while driving bill appears headed for passage
March 2, 2010 by Phil Noble
Filed under Recent Posts
by Mary Angell, Cowboy State Free Press Reporter
CHEYENNE–Members of the House today passed on second reading a bill that would make texting while driving an offense and showed they mean business by keeping intact its enforcement provision.
SF 20, Text-based communications prohibited while driving, prohibits texting while driving except in emergency situations or when the car is parked. It provides that a driver caught texting may be issued a fine similar to those imposed for speeding violations.
A proposed amendment to make texting while driving a secondary offense was voted down.
Rep. Lisa Shepperson, R-Natrona County, spoke in favor of the amendment, arguing the amended bill would serve to educate the public about the dangers of texting while driving.
“It worked with the seat belt law, and it will work with this,” she said. She also voiced her concerns over the enforcement of the measure.
“How are the police officers to know if I’m dialing a number or texting?” Rep. Shepperson said. “And if they pull you over, do they have the right to look at your phone or not?”
Rep. Ed Buchanan, R-Goshen, said he didn’t want to be stopped for dialing his phone or have a police officer search his phone to determine whether he was texting.
“We don’t need to be punitive. We still have careless driving laws,” he said. “If you’re swerving all over the road for whatever reason, you can get pulled over.”
Rep. Amy Edmonds, R-Laramie County, said legislators don’t know what powers police officers would be granted under the unamended bill. “I want to know the consequences of a bill before we pass it,” she said. “ This bill will affect the most people of any we’re talking about and we don’t even know the consequences.”
Rep. Edmonds said no one has addressed what happens if a driver stopped for texting refuses to allow the officer to examine his phone.
But Rep. Kermit Brown, R-Albany County, agreed with other legislators who said the amendment would take the teeth out of the bill. “(Texting while driving) is just too dangerous to let people do it,” he said. “We ought to just say, ‘If you do it, you can get picked up and fined for it.’”
“If you have a law on the books without any enforcement, you can drive by a cop and just thumb your nose at him,” said Rep. Roy Cohee, R-Natrona County. “Or you can drive by him and text him and thumb your nose at him.”
Rep. Debbie Hammons, D-Washakie County, supported the original bill and addressed those who said the amended version would be just as effective as the seat belt law. According to 2008 statistics recently provided in testimony to the Transportation Committee, she said, 68 percent of Wyoming drivers wear seat belts, while the national average is 83 percent.
The difference between the seat belt law and this one, said Rep. Ken Esquibel, D-Laramie, is that not wearing a safety belt endangers only himself but texting while driving poses a danger to everyone else on the road.
“It is law enforcement’s duty to protect and serve the public,” he added. “This amendment would take away their ability to protect and serve the public.”
The amendment failed, but the bill passed and will go on to third reading in the House.
My only concern is taht the bill is limited to texting. Why shouldn’t it also be applied to people who are just “dialing a number” and/or using their cell phone while driving? All are equally distracting and therefore dnagerous.