alt=Sahalie DonaldsonSALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City resident Janet Hemming broke her sternum and ribs about a year ago when a distracted driver sped through a red light and drove her car head-on into a UTA bus.
The driver told police that she was holding her phone to talk when the incident occurred, though Hemming said she suspects she may have been texting.
“After 11 months of physical therapy my life has improved. but there are still things that I did before the accident that I still can’t do today,” Hemming said. “I have no animosity for the driver who hit me, but I do believe in accountability.”
On Friday, the House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee passed a bill with a favorable recommendation 6-2 that is aimed at preventing something like this from happening to others.
Hand-held cellphone use while driving has been illegal in Utah for years, however enforcement is difficult because police can only enforce it if a driver commits another traffic violation concurrently. Law enforcement can’t just pull someone over if they are texting.
HB101 would rectify this by making holding a phone while driving a primary offense.
Hemming, along with law enforcement officers from various cities, prosecutors and motorcyclists attended Friday afternoon’d hearing on the bill. Most pitched their support behind the legislation, though a few expressed concerns that the bill would infringe on personal rights.
Bill sponsor House Minority Whip Carol Spackman Moss, D-Holladay, said this is a matter of public safety. A driver using a hand-held phone puts other people’s lives at risk — not solely their own. Not only that, but the public has repeatedly come out in force in favor of a more concrete ban against people texting or manipulating the phone while driving, Moss said.
Urged onward by public support and the personal stories of people impacted by distracted driving, Moss introduced the bill to address this issue. It isn’t her first time. Moss has tried to get the same legislation passed each session for several years.
Moss told the Deseret News that people write and tell her about their injuries caused by distracted driving frequently. She’s had somebody come and testify that their husband was killed by a driver who was texting. She’s noted numerous polls showing that the majority of Utahns are in favor of a more concrete ban.
“That’s why I’m persisting,” Moss said. “The public wants it.”
During Friday’s committee meeting, Moss said drivers would still be allowed to talk on their cellphone, but instead of holding it up to their ear, they’d need to use a hands-free device. People with older cars can put their phone on speaker or mount it with a separate device, she said.
Moss cited statics that say 1 in 4 crashes in Utah involve distracted driving. She pointed out that texting and talking with a hand-held device while driving is different from eating because it involves all three main sources of driver distraction — visual, manual and cognitive.
The legislation would still allow drivers to tap or swipe their phones to answer a call or contact Siri. It would also make exceptions for emergencies.
Twenty states along with Washington, D.C., allow law enforcement to cite hand-held cellphone use as a primary offense and can pull violators over for being on their phone even if they weren’t committing another traffic offense, according to Moss. Neighboring states like Arizona and Nevada are among them.
“The biggest problem is that our law enforcement would like to enforce no texting, but they can’t,” Moss said. “They don’t have the tools to do it.”
Orem Police Chief Gary Giles echoed this point Friday afternoon, saying that the bill would give law enforcement the tools to help change behavior before the driver is involved in a traffic accident.
“I just want to reduce the number of traffic accidents. I want to reduce the number of people who are being injured in the state of Utah,” Giles said. “And this makes it a lot easier to be able to enforce that.”
Will Carlson, chief policy adviser for the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office, also voiced support for the legislation. He said it will increase the certainty of someone who is using their cellphone while driving being caught — meaning fewer accidents and fewer people using hand-held devices.
Last week, Sgt. Nick Street, Utah Highway Patrol public information officer, said both the Department of Public Safety and Highway Patrol support the legislation.
“Our logic falls on the fact that anything that could add to distractions while somebody is behind the wheel — their primary responsibility is to drive — and anything that could limit their primary obligation to operate the motor vehicle is going to be something that we support,” Street said.
The law would allow law enforcement to either stop somebody and educate them about the dangers of holding their phone while driving or, he said, if the results of them being on their phone are severe enough, citing them.
Connor Boyack, head of the Libertas Institute, told the Deseret News that the institute opposes the bill. While they want everyone to practice safe driving habits, he believes criminalizing hand-held cellphone use would be more harmful than helpful.
He expressed concern that the legislation would give law enforcement an excuse to pull someone over and ticket them for things that have nothing to do with cellphone use. He also pointed to the penalties the bill would allow as cause for discomfort.
“Our interest is making sure people who haven’t caused anyone harm aren’t unnecessarily punished,” Boyack explained.
He said that though the Utah Legislature changed the law on cellphone use while driving a few years ago, that hasn’t stopped people from doing it. Now, rather than holding their phones in their line of sight, people are more likely to drop their cellphone into their lap, which only increases the risk, he said.
Boyack said there are a number of distractions people can engage in while driving — texting or holding a phone to speak to someone are just several of them.
“We oppose targeting this one distraction without holistically looking at all of the other issues,” he said.
Utah motorcyclist groups have pitched their support behind Moss’ bill. Elvecia Ramos, the Riderz Foundation founder, said group members see drivers focusing on the screen rather than the road every day.
Moss’ legislation is something motorcyclists have supported for years and need to continue fighting for because distracted driving puts motorcyclists at risk, she said.
The Riderz Foundation recently invited other riding agencies as well as law enforcement to come out in support of the bill at a rally at the Capitol.
“It’s unfortunate that we need to pass laws like this to get people off of their phones,” Ramos said. “Hopefully this year will be the year it passes.”
Moss told the Deseret News she had the votes to get the legislation passed in 2019, but then some lawmakers flipped on her. The bill failed in the House 32-41.
She thinks this session might be different in part because her co-sponsor is Rep. Dan Johnson, a Republican lawmaker from Logan. Moss said he is going to help get Republican support for the bill.
The bill also has a minor change toward the end. Previous versions of the legislation made those convicted of a violation guilty of a class C misdemeanor. Moss said they decided it was too harsh and changed the penalty to an infraction. If the person inflicted bodily harm as a result of talking on their cellphone without a hands-free device, that penalty could be increased to a class B misdemeanor.
“76% of Utahns — 3 out of 4 — support a clear ban on hand-held cell phones. It cuts across all party lines.” Moss said. “This is not partisan in my view. It’s a public safety bill.”