In the 2009 Utah State Legislative session, lawmakers banned text messaging while driving with House Bill 290. Now, one Utah legislator wants to take it further.
Rep. Phil Riesen is sponsoring a proposed bill that would completely ban the use of cell phones while driving, including the use of hands-free devices.
Six states and Washington, D.C., prohibit the use of hand-held cell phones while driving, but no state restricts drivers from using hands-free devices. David Strayer, a psychology professor at the U, is a supporter of the proposed legislation and was the principal investigator of a study done at the U about how using cell phones affects drivers. He said the study showed that hands-free devices still distract drivers because their mind is not on the road.
“There is no safety advantage for using a hands-free device,” Strayer told a joint House-Senate justice interim committee Wednesday.
Strayer said talking on a cell phone while driving causes “inattention blindness,” meaning people’s brains cannot effectively comprehend what they see on the road.
“Driving while phoning is equally as dangerous to driving with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08,” Riesen said.
There are local politicians who don’t agree with Riesen, including Rep. Carl Wimmer.
“A lot more people talk on cell phones than drive drunk,” Wimmer said. The time drivers spend on their cell phones compared to how often a cell phone-related crash occurs does not support Riesen’s claim, he said.
Four people have died each of the past three years in car accidents when a driver was using a cell phone, Riesen said.
Linda Mulkey, mother of Lauren Mulkey, who was killed by a driver using a cell phone in 2007, told the committee that it needed to expand upon the law concerning text messaging while driving.
“Utah now has one of the toughest texting laws in the nation,” Mulkey said. “But we need to finish what we started. We need to band cell phone use totally while driving.”
Rep. Eric Hutchings said he came into the meeting against a cell phone ban but is now reconsidering his position.
“I wasn’t prepared to go all the way to a ban, and now I’m wondering if maybe that’s where we do need to go,” Hutchings said.
The committee did not vote on the proposed bill, deciding that further discussion is needed.
“(This bill) would do a lot to harm people in the everyday use of their lives,” Wimmer said. It isn’t the government’s place to decide if someone can talk on their cell phone, he said.
