Over winter break, those ominous “Don’t text while driving Jan 1st” electronic signs on the freeway repeatedly reminded me of what I have to look forward to in 2009 ““ more restrictions on my life.
As the clock struck midnight in California this past week, many new ideas were written into law. Senate Bill 28 makes it an infraction “to write, send, or read text-based communication on an electronic wireless communication device, such as a cell phone” while driving.
Following the ban on all hand-held phone calls that went into effect six months ago, this new law further restricts drivers’ rights. Though this limitation may sound good on paper, its usefulness and precedent are highly disputable.
Now, I know cell phones can hold a driver’s attention, and they often do divert concentration away from the road. But that doesn’t mean these two laws will make our state any safer.
For example, the California Highway Patrol reports that only two-tenths of a percent of all of California’s traffic fatalities occurred in crashes where hand-held cell phones were partially to blame.
Supplemented with police admission that there is inherent inaccuracy in such information ““ collision reports aren’t known for their depth or exactness ““ this statistic calls into question the true danger of these devices in comparison to other distractions. While last year’s eight traffic deaths partially caused by cell phones are a cause for concern, there are surely better ways to prevent the other 3,963 fatalities.
It is also terribly difficult to assess the effectiveness of the hand-held driving ban. Traffic officials concede that not enough evidence exists to reach a conclusion but insist that a minor monetary threat is enough of a deterrence to improve safety.
Other than the 48,000 tickets dished out by the CHP since July, there is a lack of data on what exactly has been improved. In response, many fanatics swear they hardly ever see people use their cell phones anymore, as if their biased personal accounts constitute credible evidence.
Nearly everyone can tell a story of that one jerk who cut you off while on his phone. But despite people’s insistence, there’s no data showing that cell phones should even be a top priority for increasing road safety.
Another reason this new law is illogical is that it focuses on only one potential driving hazard.
Putting on makeup, sipping scalding coffee or compulsively messing with your XM radio or GPS aren’t illegal, yet browsing Facebook at a red light is now an infraction. And texting your mother to say you’re on your way home will get you fined. But go ahead and try to find the nearest Starbucks on your window-mounted Garmin while going 70 in the carpool lane, that’s OK. In clamping down on the easy target of car cell phone use, the California Legislature failed to recognize other more threatening distractions.
This law also highly restricts the driving rights of minors. All minors must now say goodbye to their phone while they’re in a car, as anyone under 18 can’t legally make any phone calls, hands-free or otherwise. Nor can they text, respond to an e-mail or check their friends’ status updates.
Go ahead and use that phone to scroll through your music though: SB 28 wholly lacks any provisions about potentially distracting music players.
Thankfully, these infractions won’t cost you a point on your driving record and therefore won’t affect insurance costs.
While these aren’t the craziest fines in the world, the fact that the government is so strictly regulating what we do in our cars frustrates me. I’m not going to pretend like this is the worst thing to happen to me, but I’m bothered that now not only do I need to interrupt my phone call when I see an officer, I also need to make sure it doesn’t look like I’m punching the buttons.
Back in July, I thought the initial hand-held ban was a simply a political move to sell Bluetooth headsets ““ I only imagined how much AT&T lobbied for its passage. But I am now perplexed as to why and how this new texting legislation got passed. Lacking any persuasive evidence, the California Legislature targeted the innovative technology of cell phones and restricted our rights.
By using cell phones to make a statement, legislators succeeded in proving road safety is a top priority. I’m just not convinced they took the best route.
If you’re still going to text behind the wheel, e-mail Pearring at spearring@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.