Ohio lawmakers have the opportunity to save dozens of lives each year without costing the state a penny by approving a long-overdue ban on texting while driving. Amazingly, the General Assembly has continued to drop the ball on common-sense distracted driving legislation that should have been passed years ago. This year, they need to make it law.
Texting while driving already is illegal in Ohio, but it’s a secondary offense for everyone except drivers under age 18, so drivers can only be fined for texting if they are pulled over for another violation, such as speeding.
Last year, lawmakers let a bill die that would have made texting while driving a primary offense for all drivers, despite harrowing testimony from Ohioans whose relatives were killed in car accidents involving distracted driving. Some lawmakers even have suggested that motorists shouldn’t be deprived of the freedom to text while driving.
Unless officials are prepared also to do away with speed limits and traffic lights, these arguments have no merit. No driver has the right to recklessly endanger others on the road.
The case for banning texting and other distractions, such as talking on the phone, while driving is overwhelming. Numbers from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show that distracted driving causes no less than 18 percent of car accidents resulting in injury or death — more than any other cause. It raises the risk of crashing by 23 times, even greater than the risk posed by drunken driving.
NHTSA encourages states to adopt tough laws against distracted driving. Most states already have done so. Texting while driving is a primary offense in 39 states and Washington. Fourteen states and some cities bar talking on a handheld phone while driving.
Ohio lawmakers will consider three separate bills dealing with distracted driving this year. One measure, like the bill that died last year, would make texting while driving a primary offense and ban any use of a cell phone in school and construction zones.
Two other bills would make all forms of distracted driving — defined as any activity not necessary in the operation of a car — punishable as a secondary offense. All of these measures are promising, but any law against distracted driving must be enforced with a full ban, not a toothless secondary offense.
Detractors point out that banning texting while driving won’t necessarily prevent drivers from doing it anyway. This is true — just as it is for laws against speeding or running red lights. But if a distracted driving ban deters even a minority of motorists, it will be a success.
Skeptics are right that outlawing distracted driving is a necessary but not sufficient step in prevention. Drivers won’t obey the law unless they know it exists, so educating residents about changes in state policy will be key.
There’s no excuse for Ohio to lag behind other states in an area as simple as driver safety. Lawmakers need to embrace reality over ideology and ban the deadly practice.
First Published June 13, 2015, 4:00 a.m.