News Room: SB 28: Cell Phones and Texting While Driving

Today, the California State Senate passed Senate Bill 1310, a bill by State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) which would strengthen California’s hands-free and no texting laws for motorists. The vote was 24-9. read more ...

In an editorial, the San Jose Mercury News said:

Death and injuries from traffic accidents have plummeted in California, a trend tied to the 2008 law that bans gabbing on handheld cellphones while driving. Memo to all those drivers still yakking away: Wake up. Distracted driving can kill.

The number of deaths caused by driving while chattering on handheld cellphones dropped by half in the two years after the law took effect compared with the two years before, according to a study released by the state Office of Traffic Safety. That dramatic improvement should persuade 41 other states to enact similar laws. The rest already have.

State Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, take a bow. He pushed the bill until his reluctant colleagues agreed to pass it. Credit also goes to the California Highway Patrol and local police throughout the state for aggressively enforcing the ban. They seem to have wholeheartedly embraced it, probably because they have to deal with the heartbreak of fatal accidents.

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According to a study announced Monday by the state Office of Traffic Safety, since a state law forbidding the use of handheld phones on the road went into effect in 2008, the number of traffic deaths in California declined by 22 percent. With fewer drivers yakking into handheld phones, the death-by-cellphone rate dropped an even more stunning 47 percent.

“Those are huge numbers,” said Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, author of the bill whose outcome the study tracked, while taking a (hands-free) victory lap after the announcement.
During a two-year period after the law was implemented, there were 53 deaths caused by drivers holding cellphones, compared with 100 in the two years before the law took effect. This came as total accidents and fatalities were down overall for reasons as varied as more cars having air bags.

“The drop in collisions was the biggest, single, year-to-year drop in the history of the state since the CHP began keeping the data,” Simitian said.

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State Senator Joe Simitian of California, who succeeded in getting a law passed in 2006 that bans drivers there from talking on a hand-held phone, called the board’s recommendation “a wake-up call about the dangers of distracted driving.”

Yet, he also said he doubted it would achieve the desired result because it was unlikely that legislators in California or elsewhere would be able to pass such a ban. Mr. Simitian noted that he spent five years trying to push a ban on hand-held devices, and faced intense opposition from the phone industry.

“It’s a political nonstarter,” he said, adding that he would not attempt to propose a total ban on drivers using their devices. “I don’t believe you’ll see such a ban in my lifetime.” For all his skepticism, though, he acknowledged that political winds could shift. “A decade ago, people didn’t think we’d have a hands-free law in California. Only time will tell.”

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Texting, talking and tweeting behind the wheel - even using hands-free devices - should be banned, the National Transportation Safety Board recommended Tuesday, but any such prohibition in California seems far down the road.

While state law enforcement and traffic safety officials agreed with the recommendation, the state’s main champion of cell phone regulations for drivers said legislation imposing a ban “would be a nonstarter politically.”

“The notion of an outright ban is hard to imagine,” said state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, and author of three laws restricting the use of cell phones by drivers. “I don’t predict it to happen in my lifetime. But then, a decade ago, I couldn’t even get a hands-free bill out of the Legislature.”

Simitian said he would continue to press for increased penalties for violating the bans on handheld phones and texting, and for stepped-up enforcement.

 

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California lawmakers passed 600 bills in recent weeks, and Jerry Brown vows to veto most of them, explaining simply, “not every human problem deserves a law.”

NBC Bay Area couldn’t agree more.

But, we’re sorry the governor vetoed a bill that would have toughened the hands-free, no-texting laws for drivers.

As we see on the roads, compliance with our current law is low — the bill’s author, State Senator Joe Simitian, hoped to raise deterrence by raising the base fine from $20 to $50, the same fine as rolling through a stop sign.

Governor Brown said “no.”

So we ask him - if you won’t raise fines, Governor, how will you get drivers to put away their cell phones?

Hundreds of lives are at stake.

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Governor Jerry Brown has vetoed Senate Bill 28, which would have strengthened California’s hands-free and no-texting laws for motorists. The measure’s author, State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto), called the veto “a lost opportunity to save more lives.” Simitian said he would, “review the Governor’s veto message to see if there is any room for compromise in the coming year.” read more ...

Although many Californians ignore laws against using hand-held cellphones and sending text messages while driving, Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday rejected a proposal that would have taken a bigger bite from the wallets of violators.

Repeat offenders could have ended up paying more than $500 when court fees and penalties are added in, under legislation sponsored by Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto).

Simitian proposed that the base fine for the first offense increase from $20 to $50 because of concern that not enough motorists are complying with the 3-year-old hands-free requirement for cellphone uses.

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To all those drivers who continue to yak on a handheld cellphone or text while behind the wheel—and there are many of you—pay attention. Fines are very likely to go up.

The California Legislature on Monday passed a bill that would raise the current fine plus penalties to $309 from $189. The bill now goes before Gov. Jerry Brown. A spokesman said Brown had no immediate comment on the bill, but supporters believe he will sign it into law.

Senate Bill 28, authored by Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, also would make a second offense a moving violation that would go on a driver’s record. That would potentially add up to $100 a year or more to violators’ insurance premiums unless they went to traffic school.

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Today, the California State Legislature passed Senate Bill 28, by State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto), which would strengthen California’s hands-free and no-texting laws for motorists. The bill heads to the Governor’s desk for consideration. read more ...

The story of a Sonoma State University freshman who allegedly ran over a toddler while texting on a cell phone is tragic. The toddler, 2-year-old Calli Murray, had just begun what her bereaved parents described as a bright and happy life.

Meanwhile, the life of Kaitlyn Dunaway - the 18-year-old who has been charged with vehicular manslaughter - will never be the same.

The case underscores the fact that texting is one of the worst forms of distracted driving. The California Office of Traffic Safety places it alongside drunken driving as one of the leading causes of crashes that result in fatalities or serious injuries. It’s time for it to be punished accordingly.

“The question is, are people going to understand the seriousness of this behavior?” said state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto. Simitian has authored a bill, SB28, that’s passed the Senate and is awaiting votes in the Assembly. It would raise the base ticket fine for texting while driving from $20 to $50. Repeat offenders would have to pay $100 as a base fine and suffer a point on their licenses.

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A bill that would increase the cost of using a handheld cellphone or texting while driving to about $309 passed the state Senate on Monday and is headed to the Assembly.

“Good, good,” motorist Anna Fields of Sunnyvale said. “Anything to make these drivers on their phones understand the risks they are taking and the danger they pose to me and everyone else is badly needed.”

SB 28 by state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, passed by a 24-12 vote. It would make a second offense a moving violation and raise the base fine from $20 to $50 per violation. With various fees, a first offense would cost $309, up from the current $208. A repeat offender could be fined $100, or $528 with fees.

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Today, the State Senate passed Senate Bill 28, by State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto), which would strengthen California’s hands-free and no-texting laws for motorists. The bill passed by a vote of 24-12 and now moves to the State Assembly for consideration. read more ...

The lawmaker who wrote California’s hands-free cellphone laws says too many motorists are ignoring it. He’s backing legislation that will make the fines and penalties a lot tougher.

Even though the hands-free law has been around for more than three years, Californians are still breaking the law calling, texting and checking emails on their handheld device while behind the wheel.

“Probably 60 or 70 percent of Californians are complying. That means another 30 to 40 percent of folks out there could do a better job,” said California Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto).

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A New York Times story discusses efforts to restrict the use of cell phones, iPods and other electronic devices, not only while driving, but while jogging or walking.
“The ubiquity of interactive devices has propelled the science of distraction — and now efforts to legislate against it — out of the car and into the exercise routine,” the Times reports.

“In California, State Senator Joe Simitian, who led a successful fight to ban motorists from sending text messages and using hand-held phones, has reintroduced a bill that failed last year to fine bicyclists $20 for similar multitasking.”

In other states, legislators have introduced bills to restrict pedestrians and joggers from using cell phones or iPods. Simitian is not proposing similar legislation.

In the Times story, Simitian says “At some point you do have to simply rely on the good judgment of folks as they go through their daily lives.”

“Is there a problem out there with distracted pedestrians? I’d be the first to acknowledge it,” he said. But, he added, “It’s appropriate to distinguish between 4,000 pounds of steel and glass coming at you and a pedestrian who may well put themselves at risk but probably poses less of a risk to the general public.”

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