EDMOND — Motorists and public transit drivers who hit the highways and byways after Nov. 1 will have several new laws related to cell phone use to consider.

Under House Bill 2957, authored by state Rep. Harold Wright, R-Weatherford, public transit drivers, including school bus drivers, could face a misdemeanor charge and a fine of $500 for using a cell phone on their routes.

Wright said after the end of the 2009 legislative session he attended town hall meetings and heard citizens voicing concerns about texting and driving. Some wanted to ban the practice, he said.

Wright said he thinks the fine is an appropriate penalty, large enough to be a serious deterrent.

“We want to know that our children will be safe on their way to and from school and at any other time they will be riding a school bus,” Wright said.

The bill, signed by Gov. Brad Henry on May 6, compliments HB 2276, which will allow law enforcement to cite drivers who drive dangerously while using their cell phones, but prohibit them from initiating a traffic stop simply because a driver is also operating a cell phone.

State Rep. Rex Duncan, the bill’s author, said the focus of the law is that using a cell phone is not prohibited, but when it is coupled with weaving, running other cars off the road or tailgating, it will constitute distracted driving.

The legislation, signed by the governor in April, amends the law to require officers to observe driving that “poses an articulable danger to other drivers.”

Also, the law does not refer to texting specifically, in order to encompass all future cell phone uses, Duncan said. When texting is outdated technology, the law will still be relevant, he said.

The legislation is a compromise between penalizing drivers who use cell phones and ignoring a growing public safety concern, Duncan said.

Another piece of legislation, Senate Bill 1908, authored by state Sen. Anthony Sykes, R-Moore, makes it illegal for Oklahoma teens to use a mobile phone to talk or text while driving.

It will prohibit any driver operating under a learner’s permit or an intermediate driver’s license (class D) from using a handheld electronic device to talk or text when the car is moving.

In addition, learner’s permit holders will only be able to drive between the hours of 5 a.m. and 10 p.m. A violation would result in the suspension of the driver’s license, payment of court costs and ticket fees.

State Rep. Danny Morgan, D-Prague, a co-author, said he was disappointed that provisions banning all drivers from texting while driving were excluded, but pleased that young drivers will be protected. The bill is a good start, Morgan said, and he hopes to include the excluded provisions during the next session.

Currently in Edmond, motorists can be ticketed for failure to pay full attention to driving which covers texting, eating, animals in the vehicle, things that contribute to driving infractions. Last year, Edmond officers wrote 310 tickets for failure to pay full attention to driving.

Groups including motorist advocate AAA have been lobbying for anti-texting laws.

As of January 2010, 19 states and the District of Columbia banned texting while driving for all drivers, according to AAA. More than 120 pieces of legislation were at that time pending in 26 states to establish or bolster the laws.

AAA launched a campaign in 2009 to pass texting bans in all 50 states by 2013.

Studies show an increasing number of motorists are texting while driving. Motorists who text while driving are six times more likely to crash than those who don’t, according to a recent study by University of Utah psychologists.



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