Ask any police officer in any state, county or city in America and they will tell you that they have the authority to pull over any driver who is driving erratically. Failure to control your vehicle, weaving between lanes, driving too much below the posted speed and, of course, speeding, are just a handful of erratic driving behaviors that will get you pulled over and ticketed.
And it really doesn’t matter what caused the erratic driving behavior–bad driving is bad driving. Period.
So why is it that all over America state legislators have apparently surmised that the number one culprit for erratic driving behavior is–you guessed it–your cell phone!
Take Arizona, for example, where no less than four separate bills have been introduced vilifying cell phone usage as public driving enemy number one.
One bill would prohibit drivers 18 years old or younger from using a cell phone without a hands-free device. Another creates a separate license allowing cell phone use. One prohibits cell phone use by anyone at any age without a hands-free device and yet another that prohibits text messaging while driving.
But where is the legislation that would prohibit tuning your radio while driving? Or prohibits changing a CD in a car while driving? How about legislation ending application of makeup operating a motor vehicle (sorry ladies!)? The list can go on and on.
Enter Arizona State Representative Andy Tobin (R–Prescott) who has introduced HB 2734 that defines “distracted driving” as operating a motor vehicle while doing an activity that is not related to the operation of the motor vehicle. This includes using an electronic device (unless it is hands-free), reading, writing, eating, drinking, changing clothing, or personal grooming.
Whether serious or tongue in cheek Tobin’s proposal frames the issue appropriately. The concern is not the use of electronic devices–the issue is distracted driving and whether the state wants to make distracted driving in and of itself a violation of law.
Tobin answers the most important public policy question–what is the problem to be “solved?” The issue is distracted driving. Cell phones need not take the fall for makeup, cereal, or channel hopping. It’s time more legislators understand that.