Is texting law headed your way?

Avon passed law against texting while driving in 2018

More than a year has passed since the city of Avon passed the law that allows police officers to perform a traffic stop when they see someone texting while driving.

“It was passed by the city May 14, 2018,” said Avon police Capt. Larry Fischbach. “It was brought on in part due to the sheer volume of traffic that we have in the city and the issue of how often we see someone that is distracted while driving.”

Fischbach said the biggest change the law implements is making texting while driving a primary traffic violation.

“The state of Ohio has texting while driving as a secondary violation,” he said. “This law, now being a primary in the city, allows us in Avon to pull someone over that we see texting while driving. They don’t have to commit any other violation; if we witness someone looking

“... The law has, however, made it easier for us to inform drivers and we will continue to do so.” — Avon police Capt. Larry Fischbach

at their phone while driving, we can perform a traffic stop.

Fischbach dispelled the idea that the law was created to write more traffic tickets.

“We have written less than 12 tickets in the time that law was passed,” he said. “The whole point of this is not to go out and write tickets. The goal of the department is to educate the motoring public about the dangers of texting while driving, and drivers need to be paying attention while behind the wheel. This was not done to be a revenue generator, it’s not a ticket-writing machine.”

Yet Fischbach said a bigger impact still needs to be made.

“People are always on a cellphone,” he said. “It’s very prolific, so I can’t say it has made a huge difference. The law has, however, made it easier for us to inform drivers and we will continue to do so.”

Sgt. Larry Swanger of the Lorain Police Traffic Division said having texting while driving as a primary violation is a good step to take.

“We don’t have it as a primary in Lorain, but it’s something that would be good for the state to consider,” he said.

“We have seen an increase in distracted driving; it’s actually the number one cause of accidents for us in the city now. It has surpassed drunk driving. I think it could use more attention, so making it a primary violation would be something I would like to see.”

Capt. James Graham, of the Vermilion Police Department, also supports changing texting while driving to a primary offense.

“It would be a good way to get the word out,” he said.

“It would be a good deterrent for traffic accidents. It’s not something that affects us too much over here. I think we still have more alcohol-related crashes than distracted-driver crashes, but it’s still a good idea.”

ZACHARY SRNIS — THE MORNING JOURNAL The volume of traffic in Avon, as at the intersection of Detroit Road and Route 83, was among the reasons the city made texting while driving a primary offense last year.