State Senator plans to file legislation to ban texting while driving

[warreng88]

Oklahoma state senator files legislation to ban texting while driving | NewsOK.com

[Eddie1]

We can't pass this any quicker. It is ridiculous people are still doing this, very unsafe and unnecessary. Its bad enough to talk on the cell while driving. Texting completely takes your eyes off the road.

[ljbab728]

Unfortunately filing a bill and getting it to pass in the Oklahoma legislature have nothing in common even if it makes perfect sense.

[Plutonic Panda]

We can't pass this any quicker. It is ridiculous people are still doing this, very unsafe and unnecessary. Its bad enough to talk on the cell while driving. Texting completely takes your eyes off the road.

Yes, because no one speeds, changes lanes without a turn signal, reads a newspaper while driving, runs lights... etc. Oh, and no one ever drinks and drives... which can land you in jail. Can't wait until this law passes so lives can start being saved.

Now really, in reality, I'm betting anyone who is texting and sees a cop lowers their phone. No one texts and drives in front of a cop and I've had a couple police officers tell me you can in fact be pulled over and cited for distracted driving if they just see you texting and driving, contrary to what was said on this board.

This law affects me in no way shape of form because I don't text and drive, but it is will due nothing to ban it because it's already illegal. It is distracted driving. Reading a newspaper while driving is distracted driving. Eating a taco while driving is distracted driving. Don't think so? Put your money where your mouth is and next time you see a cop on street get next to him while driving and perform one of those actions. There's a pretty good change he'll pull you over for it.

Anyways, by all means, let's just waste more energy making another useless law when there are much more important things to fix in this state. After this texting and driving ban is enacted, we'll need a senator or two to go after OKC's new abandoned property law. Then in two years have them find a way our street car is being unconstitutionally funded or some bs. Perhaps we'll divert some of the money from education to place a barrier in front of the new ten commandments monument so it won't get ran over again. So disgusted with state legislator right now it is unreal.

[trousers]

Why don't they just have the cops starts enforcing the current distracted driving rules?

[kevinpate]

Why don't they just have the cops starts enforcing the current distracted driving rules?

Probably because a press release by a senator that the senator sent a letter to OHP and local cop shops in the district to better enforce existing law does not generate a headline, nor does it make bobbleheaded sheeple nod up and down in approval, nor does it tend to increase the campaign coffers..

[venture]

Probably because a press release by a senator that the senator sent a letter to OHP and local cop shops in the district to better enforce existing law does not generate a headline, nor does it make bobbleheaded sheeple nod up and down in approval, nor does it tend to increase the campaign coffers..

Ding ding ding.

[OKCinsomniac]

Whatever the causes / motivations may be, more attention to this matter is welcome.

[warreng88]

From the Journal Record:

Darn you auto communicators: Senator tries to revive battle to ban texting while driving

By: Marie Price The Journal Record January 2, 2015

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma will become the 45th state to ban texting while driving, if state Sen. Ron Sharp has anything to say about it.

“It’s going to be a hard battle,” Sharp said Friday. “It’s going to have to take a lot of people who are committed to it.”

His bill goes a bit beyond mere texting.

Sharp, R-Shawnee, has filed Senate Bill 67, which would prohibit a driver from using a handheld electronic device while texting, emailing or talking. The language would become part of the Oklahoma distracted-driving law.

“It’s now the number one cause of accidents in the state of Oklahoma,” Sharp said, quoting information from the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and AAA. “It was DUI, and now it’s basically just texting, emailing and verbal use of cellphones. That’s the issue I’m trying to address here.”

The bill is less restrictive than some previous attempts to ban texting.

“I’m trying to make it one that’s enforceable,” said Sharp. “I’m trying to make it simple, so that it is easy to understand.”

The idea of banning cellphone use while driving gained support Friday from AAA Oklahoma in an article written by the group’s president and CEO, Neal Krueger, in Home & Away magazine.

“It’s time for the Oklahoma Legislature to send a clear message to Oklahoma motorists that texting while driving is so dangerous, it’s against the law,” wrote Krueger. “The facts are well-known: You’re 23 times more likely to crash if you’re texting then if you’re not.”

He said that surveys of AAA members show that 90 percent or more favor texting bans.

Violation would be a secondary offense. That means that a state trooper or other law enforcement officer must observe a driver who appears to be committing some primary offense, which turns out to be due to cellphone use while driving.

Some lawmakers have voiced privacy concerns with prior bills that might have required confiscation of a cellphone to prove that a driver was texting, he said.

“I think too many people here are concerned about the privacy issues,” Sharp said. “I don’t think that they really want to have this as a law here in Oklahoma under the conditions for it to be a primary offense.”

He said the bill would come into play when someone is swerving or otherwise driving erratically while using a cellphone, he said.

“When you’re going 70 miles an hour and all of a sudden someone just slows down to 40 or 50 miles an hour, it’s a pretty good indication of what they’re doing,” Sharp said. “They’re using a cellphone, and that could cause accidents.”

Sharp said he visited with some police officers Friday morning who suggested that it should be a primary violation if a driver uses a handheld device on a highway with a minimum speed limit of 40 miles per hour.

“Whether I push that through, I don’t know,” he said. “This is going to be hard enough anyway to push it through, because so many legislators are guilty of using their cellphones.”

Sharp was one of about eight legislators who filed similar legislation two years ago. His idea made it to the Senate floor last year.

Last session, Sharp said, state Sen. Bryce Marlatt, R-Woodward, used a procedural move to return texting legislation to a Senate committee.

“That was technically killing it,” Sharp said.

Marlatt was not immediately available for comment.

Under SB 67, a violation would be a misdemeanor, which in Oklahoma carries a potential maximum punishment of a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

“It’s leaving that up to the discretion of the judge to make the determination,” Sharp said.

The measure would allow use of Bluetooth and related devices.

“This is only for the older vehicles that are not equipped with Bluetooth,” Sharp said. “The whole emphasis here is for the person who is using a handheld communication device.”

Driving 55 to 70 miles per hour, he said, a vehicle can travel the length of a football field within about five seconds.

“A lot can happen during that time,” Sharp said. “It’s very dangerous and we have to address that.”

[trousers]

Woe the person caught texting while wearing a hoodie.

[OkiePoke]

When going 70 mph, you cover over 100 ft every second... Texting while driving is very dangerous.

[jerrywall]

As a daily motorcycle rider, anything they can do to raise awareness of how dangerous texting and driving is , the better.

[Jeepnokc]

Brought to us by the same guys. Ironic mug shot wearing a hoodie while allegedly committing a crime. This is Sen. Bryce Marlatt posing for his welcoming photo at jail after his DUI/APC arrest.

[turnpup]

I've got my own anti-texting-while-driving pep squad in my 8-year old daughter and in my husband. If I even pick up my phone while driving, they will both object to the prospect that I might be about to pay attention to something other than the road. Keeps me honest, so to speak. That, and the thought of me wrecking my precious car.

[warreng88]

Bill to ban texting while driving takes significant first step in Oklahoma Legislature | News OK

[Pete]

As a daily motorcycle rider, anything they can do to raise awareness of how dangerous texting and driving is , the better.

As an avid cyclist, I completely concur.

Fortunately here in California, you can't even talk on your phone while behind the wheel without it being hands-free.

I was amazed how quickly the culture changes once the law went into effect. You have more to fear from other drivers and the general public than you do the cops, although the fine is very stiff.

[Plutonic Panda]

Texting And Driving Ban To Go Into Effect In November - News9.com - Oklahoma City, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports |