Legislators hang up cellphone proposal

Law enforcement agencies and insurance companies believe electronic distractions increase vehicle crashes in Idaho, but they are finding it difficult to prove.

The current law in Idaho that prohibits texting while driving still allows the use of cellphones for dialing and answering calls. Idaho State Police spokeswoman Teresa Baker said ISP has only issued 318 citations under that law since it went into effect in 2012.

"We have had a lot of people killed and injured over the past three years due to distracted driving," Baker said. "Since we can't necessarily decide or tell if someone is dialing or texting, it's pretty much impossible to enforce."

AAA of Idaho issued a statement Friday urging a "legislative conversation" regarding the use of hands-free and handheld devices while driving in Idaho.

The statement was released after a member of the Senate Transportation Committee objected Thursday to a proposed cellphone bill that would outlaw the use of cellphones while driving in Idaho.

Because the bill was proposed three days after the deadline, the transportation committee had to agree unanimously to ask a privileged committee to introduce it, but Sen. Steve Vick, R-Dalton Gardens, objected to the unanimous consent motion.

"I think this is a pretty significant issue," Vick told the committee Thursday. “...I probably would not support the bill anyway, but because it's a big issue and it's late, I just think that it would be better to not start the habit of — not get into the habit of allowing late introductions of very many bills."

Lobbyist Mike Kane brought the bill to committee Thursday and said the lateness of the bill was due to the fact that it was looking at other versions, including limiting it to teenagers. He said the bill would mirror the texting law "almost word-for-word."

"It's a matter of deep concern and AAA believes it's time to get the conversation going," Kane told the committee.

The statement released by AAA says it respects the legislative process regarding the late entry of bills, adding that the committee is within its purview to object to the late entry of a proposal.

"Nevertheless, in the past five years, distracted driving crashes have accounted for about a quarter of Idaho's fatal crashes and 30 percent of the state's serious injury crashes. In 2014, Idaho reported 4,781 total crashes involving distracted driving," the statement says.

Baker said statistics from ISP and the Idaho Transportation Department indicate 30 percent of all fatal and serious injury crashes in Idaho are due to distracted driving, but she said they think the number may actually be higher since it is difficult to know what the drivers were doing, especially in fatal crashes. She also noted that in 2013, 75 percent of all drivers involved in fatal crashes were 25 or older in distracted driving crashes.

"So it's not just teenagers," Baker said. "It's not just young people — it's adults as well."

Kootenai County Sheriff's Office Lt. Stu Miller said the law needs to be addressed because even the texting law is "weak." If a driver is able to use a hands-free texting device they can legally do so, Miller said.

"If you initiate it with one hand and can put your hand back on the steering wheel, you can actually text while driving still," he said. "If you have the ability to push a button and activate a text mode and then hit send, you can still do that."

Miller said he personally has stopped more than a dozen people for texting while driving since the law went into effect, but has only issued one citation. He was able to prove that case because he drove alongside the vehicle on the freeway watching the driver, who was speeding as well as texting, for about a minute before the man noticed him.

The penalty for texting while driving is an infraction. Distracted or inattentive driving is a misdemeanor, and while law enforcement believes texting is the same as distracted driving, the penalties are vastly different.

"Our texting law has almost as much teeth in it as our seat belt law, which is a $10 fine," Miller said. "It is just not a widely popular law in Idaho — it's a difficult one."

Along with urging lawmakers to have a conversation about the use of electronic devices and cellphones, the AAA statement specifically addresses the Idaho texting law, stating the "conversation should also include an analysis of how well Idaho's texting and inattentive driving laws are being enforced."