By Mannix Porterfield
CHARLESTON — One study shows cell phone texting raises chances of a rear-end traffic collision 23 times, but West Virginia lawmakers appear to be a good distance from outlawing the practice.
Lawmakers debated at length Monday before the Select Committee on Infrastructure without acting on a proposed bill.
One panelist, Delegate Nancy Guthrie, D-Kanawha, reminded fellow lawmakers that for the past three years she has sought to ban not only texting but cell phone usage in general while driving.
Even now, Guthrie said she is unconvinced the Legislature needs to tackle those issues separately.
“Why do we want to wait another year to address a problem that continues to cause accidents?” she asked. “I don’t think Alexander Graham Bell ever dreamed his invention was going to be in a 3,000-pound object.”
Motor Vehicles Commissioner Joe Miller told the committee that the practice of texting increases the prospects of a traffic accident 23 times, while simply talking on a cell phone raises the chances six times.
“If the Legislature wants to make it (bill) tougher, I’m for it,” he told Guthrie. “But I don’t want to do anything that jeopardizes the texting.”
Some lawmakers questioned the wisdom of cracking down on texting while not considering other unsafe practices, such as eating and drinking, or reading a newspaper, while in a moving vehicle.
“Reading a newspaper (in traffic) is a rarity,” the DMV commissioner said.
One panelist, Delegate Jonathan Miller, R-Berkeley, wants to toughen the law on reckless driving, such as switching lanes in traffic without giving a proper signal.
“Other states are just making a political statement now,” he said of cell phone laws elsewhere.
Yet the motor vehicles commissioner pointed to a drop by 300 fatalities in California after it banned cell phones in traffic.
“This bill attacks the most prominent problem,” he said of texting.
Delegate Carol Miller, R-Cabell, said the proposed bill fails to consider the dexterity of younger drivers that allows them to send messages without losing concentration.
“Young people can text all day without even looking,” she said.
So far, according to committee counsel Betty Caplan, at least 17 states and the District of Columbia have banned texting while driving.
Under the proposed bill, she explained, texting would be a secondary offense, meaning police would have to stop a motorist for another moving violation.
No points would be added to a driver’s license, and the indiscretion couldn’t be reported to either an employer or an insurance carrier.
A first offense would bring a fine of $25, while a second infraction calls for a $50 penalty. Third and subsequent offenses would cost a motorist $75.
“I think it’s a serious issue we need to look at,” said Committee Chairman Dale Martin, D-Putnam.
Martin invited panelists to meet with Caplan to offer suggestions to alter the draft legislation.
He reminded them of the difficulty of getting another safety bill enacted a few years ago — all-terrain vehicles on public highways. “It was hard to pass even the minimal ATV law,” he noted.
Lawmakers also took up a draft measure to transfer decisions on special license plates to the DMV.
That bill would limit such plates to nonprofit groups while banning political and religious groups from getting them. Counsel John Reed noted all existing plates would be grandfathered in.
Martin agreed with the concept of taking the Legislature out of the process, pointing to the number of license plates proposed at constituents’ request.
One year, he recalled, 42 amendments were offered on the House floor in a license plate bill.
“We spend an inordinate amount of time in committee on license plates,” Martin said. “We’ve got better things to do.”
— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com
