State senate passes bill to ban texting while driving

Mixed emotions surround a bill that might make Pennsylvania join the list of 33 other states… Mixed emotions surround a bill that might make Pennsylvania join the list of 33 other states that prohibit texting while driving.

The bill, which the Senate passed last Wednesday and awaits consideration by the House and a final decision by Gov. Tom Corbett, would attatch a $100 fine to drivers who are caught using their cell phones to text, call, email, browse the internet and instant message while behind the wheel.

The bill’s primary sponsor, state Sen. Tommy Tomlinson, R-Bucks, believes that drivers need to pay more attention while driving and not deal with extra distractions.  

“When people are behind the wheel, they should be concentrating on the road and other drivers, not texting or talking on cellphones,” Tomlinson said on his website.

The Senate bill would make texting while driving a primary offense and the law would allow officers to pull over offenders if they see them texting. The bill would make talking on a cellphone while driving a secondary offense, meaning that officers can only cite an offender if they first pulled the driver over for a primary offense.

Now the bill will go through the House, where some legislators have stated that they would prefer that the law should place the same restrictions on any cell phone use that it does in texting.

In addition, Corbett said he believes the legislation is a good idea but wouldn’t comment on whether he would sign the bill or not.  

“We are supportive of the concept and believe in protecting citizens with regard to distracted driving, but at this point, the exact language of such legislation is still in discussion,” Corbett said.

Many studies have suggested that drivers take a huge risk if they choose to text while behind the wheel. Car and Driver magazine conducted a study that concluded that texting while driving is more dangerous than drinking and driving. Participants in the 2009 study had slower reaction times when texting and driving than when they were drunk driving.

In 2009, 20 percent of injury-related vehicle crashes involved reports of distracted driving, Tomlinson said.

Sixteen percent of all drivers younger than 20 who were involved in fatal crashes were reported to have been distracted while driving and the age group with the biggest proportion of distracted drivers was the under 20 age group, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Some students, as well as professors, at Pitt believe that this bill should be signed into law. Others opposed the bill’s most stringent provisions.  

Pitt information sciences professor Paul Munro said, “It should be illegal. It should be a primary offense.”

Recent Pitt biomedical engineering graduate Taylor Bissell agreed.

“People should keep their eyes on the road and their hands on the wheel while they’re driving. You don’t need to be texting,” she said.

But some students are raising concerns about making texting a primary offense rather than a secondary offense, even though they believe it is extremely dangerous.  

Elijah Barrad, an engineering major, is one of those students.

“Texting is definitely more dangerous than talking,” Barrad said. “Obviously people do [text and drive] and they shouldn’t, and I’m not going to say I don’t, but it’s tough to have it as a primary offense, because you could be doing anything. It should definitely be a secondary offense.”

Bill co-sponsor state Sen. Wayne Fontana, D-Allegheny, is delighted with the legislation and believes that this is a bill the residents of Pennsylvania want enacted.  

“I think the people of Pa. want a texting bill. They want to have some law that would prevent texting while driving. This is the first bill that has made it as far as it has in the senate, so I am more than happy to support a bill that the people of Pa. want,” Fontana said.

The bill would also restrict the number of passengers a junior driver can have in his car and would make failure to wear a seat belt a primary offense for drivers with passengers who are 8-18 years of age.

State Sen. Edwin Erickson, R-Chester/Delaware, another co-sponsor, is glad the bill was passed, but believes that the law should be more strict.  

“I am pleased to see we finally took action,” Erickson said.“I would like to have seen the law stronger. I would have liked to see the use of handheld cellphones as a primary offense. I think we need to take some action, and if we need to strengthen the law later on, we can do that.”