LANSING – The Michigan House Transportation Committee began its review Thursday of legislation that would prohibit people from using their cell phone while driving, which would make using a cell phone a secondary offense.

HB 4982 , HB 5117 and HB 5396 would all make using a cell phone in a moving vehicle a civil infraction. A police officer would have to pull someone over for a separate violation like running a stop sign or speeding, to cite them for cell phone use in a car.

Motor vehicle accidents are one of the leading causes of death, said bill sponsor Rep. Gino Polidori (D-Dearborn), and distractions while driving are part of the cause. He also added that polls should the public supports restrictions on cell phone use while driving.

To people, including lawmakers in attendance, who may talk on their phones while driving and not get in an accident and would therefore not see the need for the legislation, Polidori said that “is a culture of acceptance that continues to promote the problem,” particularly when the influence is on younger drivers.

With communities like Detroit, Dearborn and Birmingham adopting local ordinances to prohibit cell phone use in the car, he said a statewide ban is needed to provide uniformity as people often drive through different municipalities.

Washington and New Jersey already have adopted cell phone bans, said bill sponsor Rep. Steve Bieda (D-Warren), and 16 other states are considering similar legislation.

Rep. Michael Sak (D-Grand Rapids), another bill sponsor, said supporters will continue to work with officials from the auto and telecommunication industries to fine tone the legislation.

Draft substitutes provide exemptions to the ban, including permission to make a call to report a traffic accident or allow law enforcement officials to carry out their duties.

But Rep. Tom Pearce (R-Rockford) questioned that if its equally dangerous for him to be texting his office or for him to report an accident, then why was one action exempt from the bill while the other is not.

“Doesn’t it make more sense to tell all to pull over?” he said.

And Rep. Jeff Mayes (D-Bay City) said while he thinks the use of texting is questionable while driving; he asked where do lawmakers draw the line? What about people lighting a cigarette, reaching for a CD or disciplining their kids, he said.

But Sak said the focus should be that doing certain actions while driving affects other people besides the driver.

David Teeter, whose 12-year-old son died when his wife’s car was hit by a 20-year-old woman who was talking on her phone while driving, told lawmakers he doesn’t see the difference between hand-held or hands-free devices and that studies have shown that when a person is using a phone he or she is slightly more impaired than a person with a .08 blood alcohol content.

“Your mind is engaged in another task than driving,” he said, adding that he was a heavy cell phone user for years, but now he doesn’t touch his phone while driving.

Paul Green, a researcher at the University of Michigan, told the committee that as cell phone use on the road continues to increase, the risk ratio of an accident accelerates. People have a reduced situation awareness and response time when on the phone, he said of multiple studies proving his point.

That included one study where people were told to drive on the highway to a certain exit. The group who did so with cell phones missed the exit 82 percent of the time, while people who had a passenger in the car got to the right destination 95 percent of the time.

Teeter said that’s because the passenger is in the same environment as the driver and, for instance, when a light turns red and the driver doesn’t respond, there is another person to point that out.

Rep. Tom Casperson (R-Escanaba) said he questions whether the secondary offense rule will stay that way, given that seat belt use was supposed to be a secondary offense and now police have special road patrols to catch people without a belt on. He also questioned why not just continue with the law on the books now that penalizes people for careless driving.

Bieda said in passing laws like this it will educate the public and change the perception that driving while using a cell phone is acceptable.

Officials with Sprint Nextel, AT&T and Verizon were all in different stages of opinion on the bills, given that the committee did not vote on the bills and negotiations are ongoing with the sponsors. The Department of State Police does support HB 5117.

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