Posted on Wed, Jan. 20, 2010

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House panel hears from backers of texting ban

BY JEANNINE KORANDA

Eagle Topeka bureau

TOPEKA — Text offenders could find themselves forking over $100 for sending messages or e-mail while driving.

House Bill 2439 would bar drivers from using a wireless device to send text-based messages after July 1. The state House Transportation Committee heard testimony on it Tuesday.

The proposal comes with a $100 fine that would take effect July 1, 2011, after drivers have had a year of written warnings to raise awareness.

In about 80 percent of accidents, the driver was distracted in some way three seconds before the accident, said Pete Bodyk, manager of traffic safety for the Kansas Department of Transportation.

"It would take me a lot longer than three seconds to text one word," he told the committee.

No one spoke against the proposal. Many of those who testified for it used part of their time to push for other measures aimed at increasing driver safety, such as a primary seat belt law.

Transportation Chairman Rep. Gary Hayzlett, R-Lakin, said he thought the measure would have the best chance of success if it focused solely on texting while driving.

Nineteen states, the District of Columbia and Guam ban text messaging for all drivers, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association.

Kansas teens already are barred from using cell phones under the state's graduated driver's license bill, which took effect Jan. 1.

The new proposal would extend the texting ban to all drivers. It comes as text messaging's popularity is increasing.

The number of text messages sent nationwide has more than doubled, from 48 billion in December 2007 to 110 billion a year later, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's Statistical Abstract of the United States for 2010.

Ed Klumpp, lobbyist for the Kansas Peace Officers Association, said the ban had support from law enforcement and would not be too difficult to enforce.

"We are going to get a lot of compliance with this simply because we have the law," he told lawmakers.

Maj. Mark Bruce of the Kansas Highway Patrol called the proposal a "commonsense type of approach to tackle the issue of distracted driving."

James Hanni, executive vice president of AAA Allied Group, told the committee that studies have shown one in seven drivers admit to texting while driving and there is strong public support for texting bans.

"It presents a clear and persistent danger to all drivers on the road," he said.

Hayzlett said he did not know when the bill might be worked by the committee. A similar ban has been proposed in the Senate; no hearings have been scheduled.

Reach Jeannine Koranda at 785-296-3006 or jkoranda@wichitaeagle.com.