After a hearing yesterday, Sen. Brian E. Frosh, chairman of the Judicial Proceedings Committee, said that driving while texting is "clearly dangerous."
"If we can't get a strong cell phone bill, then maybe we can get a strong texting-while-driving prohibition," the Montgomery County Democrat said.
Russell Hurd, 49, whose daughter's death prompted him to become an advocate for texting bans in Florida, Maryland and other states, said he hoped legislators would adopt as strong and as broad a bill as possible. He endorsed a proposal by Sen. Mike Lenett, another Montgomery Democrat, that would ban driving while using any kind of hand-held electronic device - whether a cell phone or another text-messaging device.
Lenett's bill would make the use of such devices while driving a "primary" offense - meaning a police officer could pull over a driver for that violation alone. Some other bills would enforce violations as "secondary" offenses, in which an officer could take action only if the motorist were also committing another violation such as speeding.
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, seven states - Alaska, California, Connecticut, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Jersey and Washington - ban texting while driving. In Louisiana and Washington, it is a secondary violation. Six states - California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Utah and Washington - and the District of Columbia ban the use of cell phones while driving unless they are hands-free devices.
No states currently ban all cell phone use, even though some studies have questioned whether hands-free phones are any safer than hand-held devices. Lenett pointed to one British study that found that drivers using cell phones are four times more likely to be involved in crashes than those who are not.
He referred to another showing that drivers using cell phones are as impaired as those with blood alcohol levels of 0.8 percent - the standard for drunk driving in most states.
Lenett told the Senate committee yesterday that while a blanket ban on using cell phones while driving would make the state's roads safer, he did not think Maryland was ready for a total ban.
Pressed by Anne Arundel Republican Sen. Bryan Simonaire on the merit of banning driving while holding a cell phone but allowing hands-free devices, Lenett insisted a rational distinction can be made. He said that while research has found little difference between the two in terms of how the mind is affected, a Case Western Reserve University study had found that hand-held phones get in the way of the physical actions of driving.
