Gunpowder Chronicle posted on March 24, 2008 9:55 PM | Rating:
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Tonight, I received this information email from Wade Kach, R-5B (full disclosure: he was also my 7th grade math teacher at Loch Raven Middle School):
For nearly a decade, lawmakers in Annapolis have tried in vain to pass legislation banning motorists from using cell phones while driving. Far ranging in scope, the current proposal bans use of hand-held devices, including text-messaging.
This year’s version of the proposal (SB 2) passed the State Senate by a 26 to 21 vote. The bill is now before the House Environmental Matters Committee.
HB 2 prohibits the driver of a school vehicle that is carrying passengers and is in motion from using a wireless communication device. This prohibition also applies to the holder of a learner’s instructional permit or provisional driver’s license who is age 18 or older.
In addition, the bill prohibits any other driver of a motor vehicle that is in motion from using the driver’s hands to use a wireless communication device other than to initiate or terminate a wireless telephone call or to turn the wireless communication device on or off.
This prohibition does not apply to the use of a wireless communication device to call a 9-1-1 system for purposes related to a contemporaneous emergency.
A police officer may enforce the bill’s provisions only as a secondary action when detaining a driver for another suspected violation. For a first offense, the violator is subject to a fine of up to $50. For a first offense, points may not be assessed against the driver unless the offense contributes to an accident. The court is authorized to waive the fine for a first-time conviction if the person proves that he or she has a hands-free accessory, attachment, add-on, or built-in feature for the wireless communication device. For a second or subsequent offense, the maximum fine is $100.
The AAA Foundation lists talking on a cell phone as one of several driving distractions, including fellow passengers and adjusting a radio or other listening device. The Foundation notes that drivers talking on a hands-free phone still tend to be distracted by the conversation, while the act of dialing and receiving calls requires drivers to remove at least one hand from the wheel of the car.
According to the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety, driver distraction accounts for 30% of all accidents. Studies conducted in 2006 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute concluded that the most common distraction for drivers is cell phone use. Likewise, a 2005 study published in the British Medical Journal found that drivers on cell phones are four times more likely to be involved in a crash.
State law already prohibits teen drivers from using cell phones. The state’s negligent driving law prohibits many other activities that constitute driver distraction. Bans on drivers using hand-held phones have been enacted in California, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington and the District of Columbia.
I welcome your views on this or any other issue of concern to you.
My irreverant reply follows:
Delegate Kach,
Where is the ban on police officers using their in-car computers while driving? This past Saturday, while on my way to Bel Air, I was followed from the Jarrettsville Substation to the intersection of Grafton Switch Road, and the Harford County Sheriff's Deputy spent more time looking at the screen on his computer than the road. Several times, I was concerned that I would be rear-ended by his lack of attention.
Not to mention, I frequently see Baltimore County Police who spend more time on the phone while driving than any person I know.
I personally would like see the statistics for Maryland where this suddenly became a huge epidemic causing deaths on the roads and highways of the State of Maryland. As opposed, say, to judges in Carroll and Baltimore Counties who continually and foolishly refuse to jail repeat drunk drivers -- who continue to kill innocent drivers on our roads every year.
Or, as opposed to truck drivers in Northern Baltimore County continually attempting to bypass the weigh station in I-83 by illegally driving overweight trucks on roads like York Road, Freeland Road, and Old York Road. Laws that the State Police REFUSE to enforce, and that the county is unable to (because the county council continues to underfund and understaff the Cockeysville Precinct).
Or, as opposed to motorcycle racing on York Road and I-83 that will start a weekend or two from now as the weather gets warmer.
Or, as opposed to a Wicomico County Sheriff's Deputy that I clocked at over 85 MPH in Dorchester County on the evening of March 6th, 2008... after I had followed him from Salisbury to Vienna keeping the proper speed of 55 MPH.
Or, as opposed to fire department tankers on their way to a forest fire -- that had been burning for 10 days -- this past summer in lower Wicomico County, doing at least 65 MPH in a 45 MPH zone. (Not to mention the Baltimore City crash this past fall near Cross Country Blvd, or the Hebron Crash this past winter.)
I guess my overall point is I see this legislation as another example of the Maryland General Assembly passing more laws to solve tiny problems -- laws that will never be enforced in a practical and meaningful way -- in the absence of actually enforcing laws already on the books that would have a meaningful impact.
Best Regards,
Tim Patterson