New restrictions put on teen motorists

Cell phone rules won’t affect many in state

PHOENIX — Come Sunday morning, Arizona won’t be only one of two states that has no restrictions on the ability of motorists to use their cell phones while driving. But just barely. It applies only to teens with a learner’s permit or those who are within the first six months of being able to drive.

And the law even ties the hands of police, prohibiting them from citing drivers solely because they are seen texting or talking. Motorists can be ticketed only if they had been stopped for some other reason, like speeding.

There also are exceptions for people to call or text during an emergency “in which stopping the motor vehicle is impossible or will create an additional emergency or safety hazard.’’

And teens will be able to use a phone’s turn-by-turn navigation system — but only if they enter the location before they start driving and don’t adjust it while behind the wheel.

Still, the legislation, approved more than a year ago, is the state’s first tentative step to set some statewide limits, however minimal.

More to the point, it was approved by lawmakers pretty much because of how little it did — and how few people it affected. Still, it is a law. And there are penalties starting at $75 for a first offense. A third offense is a $100 fine, with the teen losing his or her license for 30 days.

All that leaves Montana as the only state in the nation with absolutely no restrictions on what motorists can do with their cell phones while they’re behind the wheel.

Several communities already have their own driving-while-texting bans. Those remain in effect if stricter than the new law.

Sen. Karen Fann, RPrescott, lobbied heavily for the measure, telling colleagues that it really sets no new precedents.

She pointed out there already are special restrictions on new drivers, including limiting the number of unrelated teens who can be in the vehicle as well as prohibiting them from driving after midnight unless it is to go to work or school.

Potentially more significant, Fann promised colleagues that she would not try to follow up this year with an expanded bill.

That, however, did not keep Sen. Steve Farley, DTucson, from making a new bid this year that sought to ban all motorists from texting while driving. But it failed, even after he offered compromises to limit the amount of the fines and spelled out that violations could not be used by the Motor Vehicle Division to take away someone’s license, nor be an excuse for an insurance company to raise a motorist’s premiums.