Distracted driving bill on the road to passage
It appears that language tacked on to a bill passed last year by the state Senate has removed the final roadblock to the Legislature’s approval of a ban on hand-held cellphone use while driving.
At least that’s what one key legislator who’s been blocking legislation in the House told the State House News Service. Assistant Majority Leader Rep. Byron Rushing had previously indicated that he and other legislators “concerned about police behavior” took a position years ago that they would not support primary enforcement of the seat-belt law or distracted-driving laws unless that authorization of primary enforcement is “directly connected to ending and making illegal racial profiling by Massachusetts police.” But now Rushing says an amendment added to the Senate bill, filed by Sen. Sonia ChangDiaz, contains “important language toward ending racial profiling” and begins to satisfy his concerns. And if that language remains in the reconciled version of the bill, he would support a hand-held cellphone ban, paving the way for its passage by the end of the Legislature’s formal session on July 31.
While we understand the concerns of those who don’t want to create another opportunity to pull over a minority motorist, we don’t believe this public safety issue should have been held hostage over racialprofiling concerns; they’re two different issues that should have been addressed separately.
Polling also has shown that more than 3 in 4 Massachusetts residents support such a prohibition. Most neighboring states — including Vermont, Connecticut, New Hampshire and New York — have passed legislation barring motorists from using hand-held cellphones. Distracted driving puts all other motorists, their passengers and pedestrians in harm’s way at risk of serious injury or death. That’s especially true in this state.
According to the State House News Service, driving analytics company Zendrive, which studied 3 million anonymous drivers from across the country for three months, last year ranked Massachusetts the 10th most distracted state in the country. Nationwide, drivers reported using their phones during 88 percent of trips, the study found.
A hand-held cellphone ban also would greatly reduce the distracted-driving accidents by putting more teeth in the state’s ban on texting while driving — the main cause of cellphonerelated accidents and fatalities. A cellphone ban would remove the main flaw in the anti-texting law, since officers currently can’t easily discern whether someone is texting or simply punching in a number on their phone.
Now all but remotely operated cellphones will be banned, thus removing that enforcement impediment. Lawmakers now should put the pedal to the metal and pass a hand-held cellphone ban before the summer recess.