Vermont drivers: Text no more
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Gov. Jim Douglas signs the texting while driving law into effect in Montpelier Tuesday. It's now illegal to text while driving in Vermont. Douglas signed the ban into law Tuesday at Montpelier High School, joining at least 25 states that have banned the practice. Holding the umbrella for Douglas is Speaker Shap Smith.( AP Photo |
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By DANIEL BARLOW Vermont Press Bureau - Published: June 2, 2010
MONTPELIER – Texting on a cell phone or other electronic device while driving is now illegal in Vermont.
Vermont joined more than two dozen other states in banning the dangerous habit of sending text messages while operating a motor vehicle as Gov. James Douglas signed the bill into law at Montpelier High School Tuesday.
"This law is very important," said Jennifer Wall-Howard, a driver's education teacher at the school. "Some people are very good at texting, but no one is good at texting while driving."
About 25 other states now have laws banning texting while driving and nearly all the remaining states are considering passing similar laws. National statistics suggest that 28 percent of car crashes – about 1.6 million each year – were due to cell phone use while driving.
Under the new Vermont law, which took effect Tuesday morning after Douglas signed the bill, texting while driving is considered a primary enforcement issue, meaning police can stop a car if they see the driver texting.
Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Rob Ide said the texting-while-driving ban extends to drivers of all ages. The new law also makes it illegal for 16- and 17-year-old drivers to use cell phones or other electronic devices while driving.
Those violating the new law will be fined $100 for the first offense and $250 for the second offense. Eventually, a person's license to drive could be taken away for repeat violations.
"I hope we never have to give out a ticket for this," Ide said. "I hope that increased public attention to the new law will deter drivers from texting while in the car."
Ide said there has been a rush recently by states to pass texting bans in reaction to high-profile crashes that were caused by driver inattention. There have been no known fatalities connected with texting in Vermont, although he said it is often hard to prove if such activity was related to a crash.
"It's not cut and dry," he said. "If a text message was written, but never sent, we don't have a timestamp on it. We don't know if they were writing a text when the crash occurred."
In conjunction with drafting the new law, several state transportation and safety agencies and departments teamed up to launch www.turnofftexting.com, a website that asks drivers to pledge not to text while driving.
The website, which also is on Twitter and Facebook, had nearly 300 pledges as of Tuesday afternoon.
State officials have also been hosting driving sessions at Vermont high schools to show just how much texting can detract from driving. Ide said students are asked to drive a golf cart through a course lined with traffic cones. The drive it once without texting and then a second time while texting their name and address to a friend or relative.
That's when they start knocking down cones left and right, he said.
"It really shows, first hand, the demonstrative effects of driving while texting," he said.
Sen. Phil Scott, R-Washington, was handpicked by Douglas Tuesday morning to test out a course set up at the Montpelier high school. Scott, a professional racecar driver, said he did awful – even knocking down cones when he wasn't texting.
"I don't see this measure as punitive as much as educational," he said. "I believe that once people are aware of how much of a problem this is, they stop."
Daniel.Barlow@timesargus.com
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