Cell phone ban bill limited to teen drivers

By John Vlahovich
Spokane Public Radio

With a single amendment, the Washington House transportation committee completely changed the focus of a bill restricting cell phone usage by drivers. The new language, instead of applying to all drivers, speaks only to teens holding intermediate drivers licenses.

House transportation committee members offered 18 separate amendments to the Senate-passed bill to forbid all drivers from using a cell phone while behind the wheel. They sought to similarly ban the use while driving of everything from a CB radio to touch-screen GPS locating devices.

But by a 15 to 13 vote, committee members decided just to ban the use of cell phones by teenage intermediate drivers. The full House must still vote on their amended bill.

State Senators voted for the full ban earlier this month, citing highway safety concerns. But Representatives like Republican Jim Buck, whose district is on the Olympic Peninsula, thought other motives might lie behind the bill.

“I’ve got a community that thinks that we come down here and essentially pass laws to be used as revenue generators for some of our junior taxing districts,” he suggested. “I think we’re on the verge of starting a list of behaviors that could be used basically to just generate $106 fines ka-ching, ka-ching, ka-ching.”

Buck’s concern cut across party lines. Mount Vernon Democrat Jeff Morris said it would be difficult to single out all of the many distractions that drivers face.

“I would support a law that makes it a crime for not paying attention to driving generally. But to single this out as a special case I have a hard time with and so do not want to support it,” he said.

The one thing both sides could agree on was that teen drivers as a group have more accidents and this group’s behind-the-wheel behavior should be more tightly controlled.