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Kettering to ban texting while driving

35 states have bans, but Ohio is not among them.

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By Jill Kelley, Staff Writer 12:59 AM Saturday, December 10, 2011

KETTERING — Montgomery County’s largest suburb is poised later this month to become the first municipality in the area to ban texting while driving, an increasingly common practice that studies show can be more dangerous than driving while drunk.

Kettering would join more than a dozen Ohio cities, including Cincinnati and Columbus, and 35 U.S. states that have instituted bans on texting while driving.

“We have been waiting for the state to take the lead on this (legislation),” Kettering Mayor Don Patterson said. “The state has not stepped up to the plate and done that. We can’t and won’t wait any longer.”

In June, the Ohio House of Representatives passed House Bill 99 — prohibiting texting while driving — by a margin of 88-10.

Nine provisions of HB 99 include use by emergency personnel and for navigation.

In November, testimony for the bill was heard by the Ohio Senate Highway and Transportation Committee.

Sen. Peggy Lehner, R-Kettering, is hopeful the bill will pass in the Senate.

“It is unfortunate that we need to do legislation of this sort, but it is obvious that people aren’t making that choice on their own,” Lehner said. “Hopefully, if we will get a little force of law behind it, they will.”

Ohio is one of just seven states that has no restrictions on texting while driving, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Kettering’s ordinance is modeled after HB 99, and city officials said it would defer to the state bill if it passes.

More accidents

In 2010, there were 50 percent more people texting while driving as compared to 2009, according to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report released Thursday.

As a direct result, data suggest, there are more accidents. In 2009, Car and Driver magazine compared the reaction time of a driver who is texting to one who is drunk. The study found that a texter’s reaction time was four times worse than that of a drunk driver.

Also in 2009, a Virginia Tech Transportation Institute study found the risk of collision to be 23 times greater for drivers who are texting compared to the average driver.

Russ Rader, vice president of communications with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, said research isn’t needed to recognize the hazards of texting while driving.

“Not only is it taking your mind off the road, but also taking your eyes of the road,” he said.

Even those younger than 25, who the NHTSA study said are two to three times more likely to text while driving, recognize that the practice is ill-advised.

“It’s the dumbest thing,” said Fairmont High School student Celeste Hernandez, who would be affected by Kettering’s ban. “You just don’t kill yourself, but you can kill other people.”

Laws the answer?

The NHTSA study showed that 94 percent of people nationwide were in favor of laws that ban texting while driving.

However, some question whether texting legislation is effective. “Unfortunately, and somewhat surprisingly, we have found no reduction in crashes in states that have enacted cellphone restrictions compared to those that haven’t,” said Rader, citing a 2010 Highway Loss Data Institute report. “In fact, one survey even found a slight increase in crashes in states with a texting ban.”

Mark Schwieterman, Kettering city manager, said that study is mitigated by the fact that more people are texting.

From 2009 to 2010, adults who text went from 65 percent to 72 percent, according to a Pew Institute study. “Ten more (drivers) may start (texting) this week, but maybe we can deter three of those,” Schwieterman said.

Hard to enforce

Lt. Donnie Benedict is the traffic supervisor for the Richmond (Ind.) Police Department. He said that since the Indiana law went into effect in July, the city has issued only one ticket for texting while driving.

“And that was a guy who drove through a building and admitted he was texting,” Benedict said.

He said the law is too difficult to enforce, since looking up a number on a cellphone looks the same as texting.

Others believe the ban is less about the active pursuit of drivers who text and more about underscoring the importance of the issue.

Mick Lundy is a Beavercreek State Farm agent whose son Cory was seriously injured in a 2010 car accident that may have been related to texting.

“From my perspective as an insurance agent and a parent, I think we’ve all looked down at the phone when we were driving at one point or another and felt like we were drifting,” Lundy said. “I think if there was a law, it would prevent (accidents).

“Inherently, we don’t want to break the law.”

Schwieterman said Kettering’s ordinance would focus on education and changing behaviors. City officials plan to post signs at city limits alerting drivers to the law.

If Kettering’s ban is approved as expected at the Dec. 20 City Council meeting, the area’s first texting while driving law would go into effect in January.

There would be a six-month grace period, Schwieterman said, in which drivers would be warned but not cited. In July, drivers found to be texting while driving would be charged with a minor misdemeanor and could be fined $150.

“It is in the best interest to residents of the city of Kettering, and to those traveling through Kettering,” Schwieterman said.

Rader added that laws like these are meant to highlight and prevent dangerous driving. “The road requires our full attention,” he said, “and it has a lot of competition.”

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