Proposed law would outlaw holding cellphone while driving
Published March 26, 2015
by Bryan Mims, WRAL, March 25, 2015.
A state lawmaker wants to close a loophole that makes it very difficult for law enforcement officers to enforce North Carolina's ban on texting while driving.
North Carolina is one of 40 states that have laws against texting while driving. Yet, people still send and read text messages behind the wheel, and punishing them isn't so easy.
A WRAL Investigates report last July found that 1,458 people were cited with texting while driving in Wake County in 2013. Of the 1,367 cases disposed of in the county that year in Wake County, fewer than half resulted in drivers paying the $290 in fines and court costs. Many drivers fought their tickets and won.
The current law applies only to moving vehicles – drivers stopped at a red light can text and email – but drivers are still allowed to type into a phone's GPS and search for contacts. That distinction makes it tough on prosecutors.
Sen. Jeff Tarte, R-Mecklenburg, said a law enforcement officer would need a search warrant to seize a cellphone to support a charge that a driver was texting.
"It's easier (for the driver) to just say, 'No, I wasn't texting,'" Tarte said. "End of conversation. 'No, you can't look at my phone,' and there's nothing (an officer) can do."
His proposal, dubbed the Brian Garlock Act after a 17-year-old driver who was killed when he became distracted while using his cellphone, would simply make it illegal for a driver to hold a mobile device while driving.
People could still use hands-free devices and voice texting, but violations of the legislation would carry a $100 fine and court costs. A second violation within three years would also lead to a point on a driver's license – and the resulting higher insurance rates.
"It's going to bang you," Tarte said, "whether you're texting or not. If you're holding the phone, you're in trouble if you're driving."
More than 3,000 people die and more than a quarter-million are injured in the U.S. each year in crashes involving texting while driving, according to the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis.
"As a dad, I support it. As a 40-something-year-old man, I'd be frustrated by it," Jim Palermo said of Tarte's proposal.
Fourteen states already have bans on using hand-held devices while driving, including California, where Joe DeKonty used to live.
"Do you start regulating when somebody puts their visor down to look in the mirror?" DeKonty said. "Somebody's always doing something. So, the question becomes, when are you accountable or held accountable for something that you're doing in a car?"
March 26, 2015 at 10:10 am
Frank Burns says:
The bicyclists will also be very happy with this law. How many times do we see a car slowed down on the highway, with the driver in a gangster lean talking on the phone?
March 26, 2015 at 11:27 am
Richard L Bunce says:
Slippery slope, time to go back to the top. If you cause harm to someone while operating a car then you will be severally punished. That will be incentive to not do things that might result in you causing harm to someone. This legislation sounds more like a local government revenue enhancer.
March 26, 2015 at 12:24 pm
Vicki Boyer says:
And does the new bill include holding your cell while stopped at a red light??
Or if you've pulled to the side of the road and the engine is still running?
What if the phone is laying on the seat and the drive is reading NC Spin while sitting at a stop light?
