4.5.10
City fights one driver distraction: texting
By: Robert Vitale - www.Dispatch.com
Reading and sending text messages from behind the wheel will become a crime in Columbus on May 5 if the City Council approves an ordinance tonight, as expected.

But city officials say they do not plan to move on to other behind-the-wheel distractions. Eating, sipping, iPod-fiddling and cell-phone chatting will remain legal on streets and highways in the city.

"No other form of distracted driving I'm aware of is like texting," said Councilman Andrew J. Ginther, who sponsored the texting ban. "It's that trifecta of taking your hands off the wheel, your mind off the road and your eyes off the road as well."

Story continues belowAdvertisement A majority of the seven-member council favors or is leaning toward supporting Ginther's proposal. Mayor Michael B. Coleman has said he intends to sign it into law if council members approve the legislation.

Although 21 states and a growing number of cities have banned drivers from texting on the road, far fewer have gone further in clamping down on driving distractions.

Just six states require all drivers to use hands-free devices if they are talking by cell phone. None has banned cell phones altogether. No one has tallied the number of laws in U.S. cities.

There might be other distractions worth addressing in the future, Coleman said, "but let's get this one passed first."

The ordinance would not only ban text messages and e-mail over the phone, it also would ban drivers from using the Internet by phone, computer or personal digital assistant. Violators could be fined up to $150, and police could stop scofflaws solely for that offense.

Texting wouldn't be OK at red lights or in stopped traffic. Drivers would have to park or pull out of traffic.

"Anything that contributes to safer driving is a good thing," said Dean Fadel, vice president of government relations for the Ohio Insurance Institute.

The group, which represents insurance companies, supports a statewide texting ban. That has been endorsed by the Ohio House but not yet addressed in the Senate.

Fadel said he'd like to see other distractions addressed as well but doubts they will be. "This state has historically ... tried to steer away from some of these issues," he said.

Ginther said Columbus will seek help from insurers, AAA and high schools to spread the word about its texting ban. Polls have found that young drivers do the most texting from behind the wheel.

According to studies cited by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, up to 22 percent of crashes and near-crashes involve some type of distracted driving.

Columbus police don't tally the number of accidents attributable to texting, cell-phone use or other distractions.

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