Texting, talking on cell while driving could cost you

Submitted Ohio legislators appear to be leaning toward a ban on cellphone use while driving.

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By William Hershey, Staff Writer Updated 5:02 PM Monday, August 10, 2009

COLUMBUS — One proposal introduced last week in the statehouse would ban text messaging while driving in Ohio but forbid police from stopping a driver just for that violation.

That’s a mistake, according to Pam Fischer, director of the highway traffic safety division in New Jersey, a state with a reputation for aggressively going after these driving distractions.

From July 1, 2004, to Feb. 29, 2008, cell-phone use and texting were secondary offenses in New Jersey, meaning police could cite motorists only if they had pulled them over for speeding or another primary offense.

Police issued 55,000 citations in those 44 months, said Fischer.

On March 1, 2008, the violations became primary offenses, giving police the authority to stop a driver who was talking or texting. Through June 2009 — just 16 months — police had written 150,000 tickets, Fischer said.

“If you want to send a strong message,” it’s got to be a primary offense, said Fischer.

Momentum seems to be building at the Ohio statehouse toward some type of regulation of the use of cellphones when behind the wheel, but there is no consensus yet on which way to go. Another bill introduced last week would give police the authority to pull drivers over not just for text messaging but also for talking on hand-held cellphones.

Fischer said outlawing just texting wouldn’t work well because police would have trouble determining whether a driver was texting or punching in a phone number, a point echoed by Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones.

Jones said he’d back a ban on hand-held cellphone use and texting but that Gov. Ted Strickland and lawmakers need to talk to law enforcement officials to get it right.

Keep reading: Driver distraction bans catching on

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