A ban on using hand-held cell phones and other wireless devices while driving overcame a key legislative hurdle yesterday and moves to the Senate floor, where proponents believe they will finally succeed in what they see as a decade-long battle for motorist safety.
A Senate committee narrowly approved a version of the bill yesterday, but only after amending it significantly to add several exemptions, to make hand-held cell phone use a violation only if a driver is pulled over for another traffic offense and to let the restriction expire after two years.
Some lawmakers, and even safety experts, question the usefulness of prohibiting drivers from holding wireless devices while continuing to allow them to talk through a hands-free device. The Maryland proposal would allow drivers to use wireless devices only with accessories such as headphone sets equipped with microphones.
With driver distraction identified as a major cause of accidents, similar laws have been enacted in 28 states and the District of Columbia. Many motorists interviewed yesterday thought it was time for Maryland to join them.
"If it saves lives and makes it safer for everybody, it makes sense - and I'm one of the offenders," said Mike Leishman, a Baltimore driver whose cell phone has a speaker device that enables him to speak with both hands on the wheel. "I try to use the speaker whenever I can."
The Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee voted 6 to 5 to approve the legislation yesterday; the House of Delegates has not yet acted on similar legislation. The bill makes it a secondary offense to talk, or to send or read text messages, with a hand-held wireless communication device while driving. The original bill would have allowed police officers to stop drivers solely for violating the prohibition.
Failure to wear a seat belt initially was a secondary offense in Maryland as well. It was later changed to allow a police officer to ticket for that offense alone, but that legal evolution took years. The legislature made seat belt use mandatory in the 1980s and didn't bump it to a primary offense until more than a decade later.
Lawmakers also changed the cell-phone bill to include exemptions for first-responders and for transport services for elderly and disabled people. And they reduced the fines, with the first-offense penalty halved to $50.
