County reps divided on cell phone bill
A state House vote earlier this week to ban drivers from using cell phones to make calls in a moving vehicle divided county representatives and law enforcement because the bill additionally restricts police from stopping motorists for that reason alone.
Representatives voted 120-74 for the proposal to expand current law, which already bans any texting, and would — if passed — prohibit the use of hand-held devices to make phone calls for truckers and other commercial drivers.
The bill does exclude the use of GPS features on the phone. It would still have to go to the state Senate and then the governor before it would be passed into law.
The bill's prime sponsor, Rep. Rosemary Brown, R-189th, said she was disappointed the House amended the bill so that police could not stop drivers solely for using hand-held phones. Instead, the proposal makes it a secondary offense that would result in more severe penalties when paired with another violation that would result in the initial traffic stop.
Under current law, texting is considered a primary offense, meaning authorities are allowed to pull over drivers they believe are texting. However, critics say that does not happen enough because officers often can't distinguish a driver making a phone call from a driver who is texting in a moving vehicle.
The proposal in the House split both the Republican and Democratic caucuses, unusual in a chamber where divisions typically follow party lines. In Butler County, the law elicited opposing votes from the same party. Reps. Marci Mustello, R-11th, and Aaron Bernstine, R-10th, voted in favor of the bill, while Daryl Metcalfe, R-12th, voted against it.
Mustello voted for the bill because she believes it's a “step in the right direction” in reducing distracted driving. However, she wants the final version of the bill to elevate distracted driving back up to a primary offense.
For Bernstine, the selling point of the bill was the reduction of the offense to a secondary status.
“The spirit of the bill is the right thing, and this is about saving lives while protecting people's liberties,” Bernstine said.
Metcalfe couldn't be reached in time for comment.
Brown said she hoped to continue working on the legislation as it goes to the Senate for consideration. A spokeswoman for the Senate's majority Republicans said the caucus has not reviewed the matter and offered no thoughts on its potential for passage.
“The State Police are supportive of the bill because it would help to eliminate the distraction of hand-held devices while driving,” said Trooper Brent Miller, communications director for Pennsylvania State Police. “The current law in place is difficult because you can't tell if (drivers) are just looking at their phone or are they texting. This new bill makes it so that even if you have the phone in your hand, it's an offense.”But Saxonburg Police Chief Joe Beachum disagreed with the new bill, saying it “makes no sense” for the legislature to reduce the offense from a primary to a secondary offense.“Too many times, we can see them staring into their phones while they're coming toward us in oncoming traffic. The phones have taken over the world,” Beachum said. “Using a 3,000-pound weapon while you're not paying attention is not a good thing.”Beachum said if the new bill passed, it would limit an officer's ability to promote safe driving on the road.“They're taking our discretion away with that. There are instances where that would merit a citation as the primary offense,” Beachum said, noting the current punishment doesn't include points on a license. “So, why would you make it even more lenient? It takes the safety tools out of our hands. They're almost saying let them crash first.”Beachum said that distracted driving “is as dangerous or more dangerous than driving while intoxicated.”A change in data supports Beachum's claim.In 1990, distracted driving amounted to 5,269 crashes across the state, according to Pennsylvania Department of Transportation statistics. That same year, impaired drivers accounted for 14,571 crashes.Three decades later, distracted driving crashes have more than doubled, with a peak of 16,050 crashes in 2016.Minority Whip Jordan Harris, D-186th, voted for the proposal after speaking about how black drivers could be exposed to racial profiling stops if the language had not been amended to make it a secondary violation.“As an African-American male who crisscrosses this commonwealth, I am nervous at times when I'm driving in Pennsylvania,” Harris said. “That is real.”Rep. Mike Carroll, D-118th, called the bill a step backward, warning it could result in more highway deaths because texting would also be a secondary offense.“This advances nothing, this makes things worse,” said Carroll, who noted his in-laws were killed in a texting-related crash in the Philadelphia suburbs several years ago.Current law carries a $50 fine for texting while driving. The pending bill would make either texting or making calls while driving punishable by a $150 fine.There would be exceptions, so drivers can use hand-held phones to call 911.The bill also would require driver's education training for teens on the hand-held device driving prohibition.Associated Press contributed to this report.
