Cell-phone safety bill runs into roadblock
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By Peter Hirschfeld Vermont Press Bureau - Published: March 17, 2010
MONTPELIER – With a popular road-safety measure at stake, House lawmakers engaged their Senate counterparts in a legislative game of chicken Tuesday.
Earlier this session, the Senate fast-tracked legislation that would ban the practice of "texting" while driving, which safety officials have cited as fast-growing and dangerous activity. Consensus support for the bill from law-enforcement officers, highway-safety officials and Vermont citizens, they said, made it an important piece of standalone legislation.
On Tuesday however, the House draped the texting prohibition with a number of other highway-safety measures, setting the stage for a showdown with Senate members who don't like the added provisions. These include a ban on handheld cell-phone use, nighttime curfew for junior motorists, and revisions to the seatbelt law contained in the House version.
"I think the Senate and the governor will continue to plead with the House to pass a bill that we can all agree on and that will save Vermont lives," Senate President Peter Shumlin said following the House vote.
Maxine Grad, vice-chairwoman of the House Judiciary Committee, said saving lives, particularly young ones, is her goal as well.
The Waitsfield Democrat has spearheaded highway-safety legislation in each of the last three years. While her bills have enjoyed overwhelming support in the House, they have gone nowhere in the Senate. She's hoping that popular support for banning texting – a particular concern with teenage drivers, according to witness testimony – will convince the Senate to go along with measures they've rejected in the past.
"The House has said we are committed to a comprehensive approach to public safety, and texting is just one part of it," Grad said. "That's not to say we can't have a texting ban, it just might take a little bit longer."
The House version of the bill includes several key amendments. The bill prohibits cell-phone use of any kind by motorists under 18, and mandates hands-free only for everyone else. It establishes a nighttime curfew for junior operators that would prohibit them from driving between midnight and 5 a.m., except under exempted circumstances. And it makes seatbelt laws a primary violation, meaning police could pull someone over solely for not wearing the safety device.
Sen. Phil Scott, a Washington County Republican, said the measures included in the House version do not have the same kind support among Vermonters as the texting ban.
"I think it's unfortunate, with such overwhelming support for the texting ban, that we weren't able to keep the bill clean and have a quick passage," Scott said.
Scott said the amended bill will force a committee of conference, in which selected members from both chambers try to reconcile competing versions of legislation, and that will take time away from other important work.
"It really does hamper somewhat our work on the transportation bill, which should be the highest priority, because of the number of jobs and projects involved," Scott said.
Grad said the extra time will have been worthwhile if Vermont can use this session to pass a more comprehensive set of highway-safety laws. Vermont is one of only two states in the nation without a nighttime curfew for younger drivers, she said. And the increased number of people who would wear their seatbelts were it a primary violation, other House members said Tuesday, would save lives.
As Senate members consider testimony in conference committee, Grad said, "maybe people will take a second look at their positions … I think we can reach agreement on something."
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