Many Ohioans might be surprised to learn that motorists in the state can’t be pulled over by police for text-messaging while driving. Unlike the dubious measures that state lawmakers are trying to sneak through in their lame-duck session, a bill that would make texting a primary traffic violation deserves prompt approval by the General Assembly.
Under current Ohio law, drivers can be fined and charged with a misdemeanor for texting while driving, but only if they are stopped for another violation, such as speeding. The bill before the House would make texting while driving a primary offense rather than a secondary one, so that police can pull over and cite any driver they see texting. The bill also would ban the use of cell phones in school and construction zones.
A House committee approved the bill after lawmakers heard testimony from witnesses whose relatives died in vehicle crashes caused by distracted driving. Their stories are harrowing.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that distracted driving causes 18 percent of all car crashes that result in injury or death. According to researchers at Virginia Tech’s Transportation Institute, texting while driving increases the risk of a crash by 23 times — even greater than the risk posed by drunken driving. If Ohio’s bill were to deter even a minority of drivers who text behind the wheel, it would be a success.
The House voted in 2012 to make texting while driving a primary offense. But the Senate refused to go along, instead defining it as a primary offense only for drivers under age 18.
Texting while driving isn’t just dangerous for young drivers; it’s dangerous for everyone. Ohio law should reflect that. Texting and driving is already a primary offense in 39 states and the District of Columbia.
Most voters support bans on texting while driving, but a minority asserts that they infringe on personal freedom. Unless detractors are prepared to do away with speed limits and other road rules, those arguments hold no water. As Gov. John Kasich pointed out when he signed the 2012 law, laws that prevent road deaths should not invoke complaints about a “nanny state.”
The current bill includes sensible exceptions for drivers whose cars are stationary and outside a lane of travel, those who receive texts for emergency purposes, and those who use their phones for navigation. So there’s little risk that anyone will be unfairly targeted.
The proposal to ban texting while driving offers an encouraging example of government working as it should, listening to citizens’ testimony and advancing life-saving legislation. The sooner lawmakers approve the measure, the better off Ohio motorists will be.
First Published December 7, 2014, 5:00 a.m.