Legislators divided on auto safety bill
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By LOUIS PORTER VERMONT PRESS BUREAU - Published: February 4, 2010
MONTPELIER — Leaders in the state's House of Representatives are determined to craft a comprehensive highway safety bill that would go far beyond simply outlawing text messaging while driving, they said Tuesday.
But key members of the state's Senate are more inclined to pass the text message ban first, then later consider other portions of the bill dealing with cell phone use while driving and allowing police to stop motorists for not wearing their seat belts.
It is possible the disagreement could take on added importance later in the legislative session, not only in the future of the highway safety legislation but also in horse-trading between the House and Senate on other matters as well.
At a Statehouse news conference, Speaker of the House Shap Smith, D-Morristown, said he believes that the portions of the bill that have less support in the Senate — requiring drivers to use hands-free devices when they are using their cell phones and implementing "primary enforcement" of seat belt laws — are important for public safety.
"We think we need to look at the issue more globally," Smith said.
But Sen. Richard Mazza, D-Grand Isle, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, said that while there is support for a ban on text messaging while driving — the committee this week approved such a bill — he and others would like to move more deliberately on the other portions of the legislation.
"Texting is a serious, serious issue that has grown overnight to epidemic proportions," Mazza said. "It is something everyone can agree on."
But there is not a consensus on other portions of the proposed highway safety bill in the Senate, he said.
Members of the House said they would like to see the other portions of the highway bill move as well.
Rep. Dave Potter, D-North Clarendon, vice chairman of the House Transportation Committee, said as a driver's education teacher he has long believed it would be a good idea to allow police to stop motorists for not wearing seat belts. Now police can ticket drivers for not wearing them if stopped for another reason.
"For many years we have been advocating for primary seat belt laws," he said. "We would save an additional two lives a year in Vermont."
A new study by the Highway Loss Data Institute released late last week claims that California's hands-free cell phone requirement has not significantly changed car crash rates in that state.
That study may not be accurate, said Matt McKenzie of the AAA of Northern New England, an automobile club and insurer. Data from the car club's Southern California offices shows that the law there has resulted in a dramatic decline of such risky uses of cell phones, he said.
louis.porter@rutlandherald.com
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