Text messaging while driving would be primary offense with $100 fine

 

By Eric Boehm | PA Independent

 

HARRISBURG — Drivers caught with a cell phone or a cheeseburger in their hands might soon be facing stiffer penalties under new legislation passed Tuesday by the House Transportation Committee.

 

A package of bills aimed at curbing distracted driving would make text messaging while driving a primary offense with a possible fine of up to $100 with an additional $100 fine if the offense occurs within a school zone. Another piece of legislation would add additional penalties for careless driving if the driver was distracted by a phone call, food, drink or personal grooming such as applying makeup, including a $50 fine to support a new state educational initiative.

 

The careless driving penalties would be enforced at a secondary level, meaning the driver would have to be pulled over for driving recklessly first. The distracted diving penalty would be $50 on top of the other offenses for which the driver was pulled over.

 

“Whether you’re 18 or you’re 80, regardless of how dexterous your thumbs are, you shouldn’t be texting behind the wheel,” said state Rep. Kathy Watson, R-Bucks, the lead sponsor of the texting bill. “It’s just too dangerous.”

 

While text messaging would be prohibited under the first proposal, making a traditional phone call would still be legal, unless it causes the driver to be pulled over for driving carelessly. If that happens the cell phone use could be grounds for a secondary offense under the distracted driving bill.

 

The package of bills passed nearly unanimously from the committee. State Rep. Mike Carroll, D-Luzerne, who opposed adding to the list of potential secondary offenses for distracted driving, was the only negative vote.

 

“I think careless driving already is a violation of the law and as a result, if an officer wants to cite someone for careless driving, they already have the capacity to do that,” said Carroll. 

 

He said he would prefer to see stiffer penalties for the violations that are already part of the law.

 

The new $50 fine created by the legislation would fund a distracted driving education program to be administered by the state Department of Transportation. The base fines still would go to the local municipality in which the offense occurred.

 

Watson said the goal was for the education program to make itself unnecessary in time.

 

“Once people understand it, they won’t do it and therefore won’t be fined for it,” said Watson. 

 

The committee also passed legislation to make the state’s seal belt law a primary enforcement for drivers and passengers younger than 18 years old. Under current state law, all drivers must wear a seat belt, but can only be ticketed for failing to do so if they are pulled over for another offense.

 

Gary Biller, executive director of the National Motorists Association, a grassroots group that

defends drivers’ rights, said the new laws were unfair to both drivers and law enforcement. While the organization supports seat belt laws for young children, teenagers are old enough to make their own rational decisions, Biller said.

 

And law enforcement cannot be expected to tell when a driver is 17 or 18 for the purposes of pulling a driver over for a primary offense, he said.

 

“You’re putting a lot of responsibility on law enforcement to make snap decisions about whether someone might be texting or not or whether they might be underage,” Biller said.

 

The Pennsylvania State Police does not have a position on the bills, according to spokesman Jack Lewis.

 

“In general, the Department is interested in any legislation that will serve to reduce distracted driving by vehicle operators of any age,”  Lewis said.

 

The American Automobile Association supports bans on text messaging while driving.

 

A poll released Monday showed distracted driving to be the biggest threat to public safety on the state’s roads and highways, according to voters. Fifty-eight percent of respondents supported tougher laws on teen drivers and 70 percent supported mandatory seat belt laws for underage drivers.

 

The poll was conducted by Susquehanna Polling and Research and surveyed 750 voters in Pennsylvania with a margin of error of 3.58 percent.

 

House Majority Leader Turzai, R-Allegheny, has endorsed the package of bills, which are expected to receive a final vote within the next week.