Published: July 20, 2008 01:05 am            

We need cell phone usage laws

Comment column

Texas could learn a thing or two from California.

We could learn something from New York as well.

“Say what?,” true-blooded, God-fearing Texans might be quizzing at the very hint that the Lone Star State might be interested in taking a page from the book of those liberal wackos on the left and right coasts.

Texas, it has been said, is “a whole ‘nuther’ country.”

Yes, we are, and we love our independence. And almost to a cavalier fault, it’s either “our way or the highway.”

“I’m from Texas, what country you from?”

By now, you get the picture. We’re proud, proud people, perhaps with more state identification than the other 49 combined. And you can toss in Puerto Rico and we’re still ahead.

But even the best can take a hint from their neighbors and when, it comes to stricter laws regarding cell phone usage, we need look no further than the Terminator’s adopted home turf.

On July 1, a law took effect in California making it illegal for any driver to use a hand-held cell phone. Drivers 18 and older may use a hands-free device, while drivers 17 and younger are prohibited from using a phone at all.

California became the fourth state, plus the District of Columbia, to put such a law in the books. The other states banning hand-held cell phone usage for all drivers are Connecticut, New Jersey and the aforementioned New York.

Another half-dozen states, including Ohio and Michigan, leave it up to local option.

Taking a worldwide perspective, virtually every other modern country — with the exception of Sweden — has laws prohibiting mixing cell phones and driving — a combination which has sometimes proven as lethal as mixing booze and the wheel.

Even Russia has had a cell phone ban in effect since 2001.

A study conducted last year by AAA and Seventeen magazine indicated that 61 percent of teenagers admit to risky driving habits, with roughly half of those admitting that they use a cell phone and even text message when behind the wheel.

A study by the Public Policy Institute of California estimates the new law will reduce traffic fatalities in the state by 300 during its first year.

Lisa Dawn Norling of Houston can only imagine what might not have happened last October had Texas had a similar law in place.

Her husband, Jason Norling, a Harris County deputy constable, was writing a ticket when he was struck and killed by a vehicle operated by a man who was on his cell phone at the time of the fatal accident.

It might be difficult to shift the emotional tide in a state such as Texas whose residents cling tightly to “personal freedoms” such as gun ownership and, cough cough, using your cell phone in the ol’ pick em’ up’ truck.

Many private businesses, including ExxonMobil and FedEx, have policies restricting employees’ cell phone usage on the road. Their motive — quite frankly fear of litigation should one of their employees using a cell phone cause an accident — might not be pure, but at least they’ve reached the correct conclusion, by whatever process.

In Texas, many state agencies, including the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission and the Texas Department of Public Safety, did not have a cell phone policy of any shape, form or fashion as of last fall.

Two years ago, a bill introduced by State Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, to limit drivers’ cell phone use to headsets or other hands-free devices failed. Since Norling’s death, he has made it clear he plans to introduce similar legislation when the next Legislature kicks off in Austin in January.

I’m sure a lot of fat cat politicians whose coffers are lined with dollars from big business with big influence and big political contributions will justify their opposition to Coleman’s bill or any other similar legislation. Some will certainly check their conscience at the door and be focused more on preserving re-election bids than preserving human lives.

Sometimes, you just have to forget partisan politics and do the right thing rather than the party thing. And you can bet there’s a party angle to almost every battle in Austin. I do not give one iota whether your preference is Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Green or Whig, politics has no place when it comes to improving safety on our public highways.

If you want to ‘Root, root, root’ for the home team, go to the convention.

Maybe those who vote against a well-crafted law banning the use of hand-held cell phones can explain their thought process to Lisa Dawn Norling.

Or, better yet, let’s just ship them to California.

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Paul Stone covers politics and law enforcement for the Herald-Press. He can be reached via e-mail at pstone@palestineherald.com

        

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