Driving While Calling -- What's the Legal Limit?

• Author: Sundeen, Matt

The use of cell phones while driving continues to be a hot item on legislative agendas.

If you have been in a car lately, you know that the days when every driver had two hands on the wheel and two eyes on the road are long gone. Now it's common to see a driver with a phone crooked between shoulder and ear, sipping a latte, reading a newspaper, applying makeup, shaving, eating or turning to talk to the passenger in the back seat. For some people, two hands on the wheel have been replaced with the pinky finger and knee.

Although many distractions can make driving perilous, it's cellular telephones and other mobile telecommunications devices in motor vehicles that have grabbed the attention of legislators and made headlines this year. Lawmakers in 43 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico proposed more than 130 bills regarding cell phones and driving in 2001, compared with 27 states that considered legislation last year and 15 states the year before.

Unlike previous years when cell phone bills were dead on arrival, this year some legislation passed. New York in June became the first state in the nation to prohibit the use of hand-held mobile phones while driving. Massachusetts now prohibits drivers from using cell phones while operating a school bus. Legislators in Louisiana, New Jersey and Virginia approved resolutions to study cell phone involvement in crashes. New Jersey also voted to prohibit drivers with learner's permits from using cell phones. Illinois legislators revised headset restrictions to allow drivers to use one-sided earpieces with cell phones. Oklahoma and Oregon forbade local jurisdictions from enacting cell phone restrictions. A hands-free bill in Rhode Island passed both houses, but was vetoed by the governor until more information can be collected.

Legislative activity was not restricted to the states. In both houses of congress, lawmakers proposed bills to restrict cell phone use in cars. At the local level, several counties and municipalities, including Santa Fe, N.M., and Nassau, Westchester and Suffolk counties in New York, passed ordinances to prohibit hand-held cell phones in cars. In all, 13 U.S communities now limit cell phones in the car, and more towns, cities and counties are considering similar proposals.

KEEPING UP TO SPEED WITH TECHNOLOGY

The rising interest in cell phone legislation corresponds with the blistering growth of technology on the road. More than 119 million Americans currently subscribe to mobile telephone services, according to the Cellular Telecommunication Industry Association (CTIA), up from 60 million subscribers just three years ago. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that 73 percent of cell phone subscribers use their phones while driving to stay in touch with loved ones, conduct business, report...