Helena – Montana is now the only state in the nation that doesn’t ban at least some drivers from texting ever since a new law took effect in South Carolina this week.
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Department of Transportation Director Mike Tooley said Wednesday that while he believes Montana needs such a ban, the state has never led the charge for new laws regarding highway safety, leaving it to municipalities.
The department says about a dozen ordinances in cities and two counties ban texting behind the wheel.
State Highway Patrol data shows that driver cellphone usage contributed to 1,614 crashes from 2004 to 2013.
Lawmakers have proposed legislation banning the practice in recent years, but those attempts failed to gain traction. Tooley said he expects a similar bill will be introduced during the 2015 legislative session.
The idea of only prohibiting texting while driving, without prohibiting all cell phone use while driving is ludicrous. Speaking on the telephone while driving, whether holding it or not holding it, is just as distracting and dangerous as texting. Incidentally, this week, a passenger on a Greyhound bus near Pittsburgh took a video of the bus driver repeatedly texting while driving at high speeds. When he complained to Greyhound, and asked them to contact the driver, Greyhound stated that “they didn’t want to distract him further”. The driver was eventually contacted, and placed on leave.
I hope the push for more drivers to be organ donors.
No need for such rules in Montana. Worst thing that can happen is you’ll crash into a corn field. I don’t believe you have to worry about seeing people anywhere within a 100 mile radius.
Any data on whether such bans actually reduce fatalities in the real world?
I remember reading somewhere that such bans have a negative effect by causing drivers to hold their phones further away from their eyes to avoid being seen by police – making it even more dangerous.
If true, it’s just another example of laws having noble intentions but bad consequences.