BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 28
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Date of Hearing: June 13, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
SB 28 (Simitian) - As Amended: April 14, 2011
SENATE VOTE : 24-12
SUBJECT : Distracted driving
SUMMARY : Increases the fine for cell phone use and text
messaging while driving. Extends these bans to bicycling.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Adds a test of a driver's understanding of the distractions
and dangers of handheld cellular telephone use and text
messaging while operating a motor vehicle to the list of items
that DMV must include in its examination of a person who is
applying for a driver's license.
2)Increases the total fine from $20 ($208 total bail) to $50
($328 total bail) for the first offense and from $50 ($328
total bail) to $100 ($528 total bail) for any subsequent
offense of driving while using a handheld wireless
communications device to talk or text, or if a person is under
the age of 18, using any wireless communications device at
all.
3)Prohibits the driving of a motor vehicle while using an
electronic wireless communications device to write, send, or
read a text-based communication, unless the electronic
wireless communications device is specifically designed and
configured to allow voice-operated and hands-free operation to
write, send, or read a text-based communication, and it is
used in that manner while driving.
4)Assigns a point to a driver's license for a second or
subsequent conviction of driving while using a handheld
wireless communications device to talk or text or, if a driver
is under the age of 18, using any wireless communications
device for any purpose. This point does not apply to a
bicyclist who is convicted of using a handheld telephone while
cycling.
5)Allows for primary enforcement of a violation of using any
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wireless communication device while driving for drivers under
the age of 18.
6)Prohibits a bicyclist from riding a bike while using a
handheld wireless communication device to talk or text and
establishes a total fine of $20 for an initial violation and
$50 for any subsequent violation. This amount will be the
total amount collected and will not include any other
penalties, assessments, surcharges, or fees.
7)Establishes the Distracted Driving Education Fund and requires
county treasurers to submit to the State Controller $10 from
each fine collected for driving while texting or using a
handheld wireless communications device in order to fund an
education program on the dangers of these behaviors, but also
allows the treasurers to withhold a sufficient amount from
each fine to reimburse the courts in the county for their
actual, reasonable, and necessary costs associated with
processing those violations.
8)Requires the Legislature, upon appropriation in the Budget
Bill, to allocate the education program funds to the Office of
Traffic Safety (OTS) to develop and implement that program.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Prohibits, with specified exceptions, a person from using a
handheld wireless phone or engaging in text-based
communication (e.g. text messages, instant messages, or email
messages) while operating a motor vehicle.
2)Establishes a base fine is $20 for an initial offense for
either violation and $50 for each subsequent offense.
3)Specifies that these violations are primary offenses such that
a law enforcement officer may stop a driver who he or she has
cause to believe is violating these laws. No points are
assigned to the license of a driver who is convicted of either
infraction.
4)Prohibits, with specified exceptions, a driver under 18 from
using any wireless communications device while operating a
motor vehicle, without regard to whether the device is
hands-free or handheld. The base fine for an initial offense
is $20 and $50 for each subsequent offense.
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5)Provides that the use by a driver under 18 of a handheld cell
phone for talking while driving is a primary offense while
using a hands-free device or engaging in text-based
communication on any mobile service device is a secondary
offense, meaning that a law enforcement officer may not stop a
driver solely for the purpose of determining whether or not a
driver under 18 is violating this law.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, there will be an unknown increase in penalty
revenues, minor DMV costs, if any, to modify driver's exams,
unknown revenue gains from fines collectedfor the education
program, unknown costs, in the range of $150-$300 thousand, for
courts' programming efforts, and likely minor costs to county
treasurers that are potentially reimbursable from the General
Fund.
COMMENTS : In 2008, the AAA Foundation reported that "over half
of U.S. drivers report having used a cell phone while driving in
the past 30 days, and one in seven even admits to text messaging
while driving." Similarly, according to a recent survey
conducted by OTS, 47% of California drivers admitted to having
talked on a handheld cell phone while driving in the prior 30
days, and a shocking 30% admitted to having texted or emailed
while driving within that timeframe. Fifty five percent of
those surveyed reported that they had, at least once, been hit
or nearly hit by a driver who was texting or talking on a cell
phone.
The AAA Foundation also reported the results of a driving study
which found that: "Dialing a hand-held device was associated
with nearly triple the odds of being involved in a crash or
near-crash, and talking or listening to a hand-held device was
associated with about a 30% increase in the odds of being
involved in a crash or near-crash. Dialing hand-held devices
was found to have been a contributing factor in 3.58% of crashes
and near-crashes, and talking/listening on hand-held devices was
a contributing factor in 3.56% of crashes and near-crashes.
Both dialing and talking/listening on handheld devices
contributed to significantly greater percentages of crashes and
near-crashes than did any of the other secondary tasks that were
studied-even though some of the other secondary tasks were
associated with higher risk-because drivers dialed and talked on
cell phones much more frequently than they engaged in most other
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secondary tasks."
The California prohibition against talking on a handheld
telephone while driving went into effect on July 1, 2008 and the
prohibition against texting while driving went into effect on
January 1, 2009. Accident data compiled by the California
Highway Patrol indicates that the incidence of hand-held cell
phone use contributing to traffic collisions ranged between 900
and 1200 occurrences per year between 2005 and 2008 but fell to
670 in 2009.
Nevertheless, in spite of diligent efforts (including, notably,
by the author of this bill) to reduce distracted driving, and
despite the unambiguous evidence that cell phone use in general,
and text-messaging in particular, constitutes highly
irresponsible and dangerous behavior, handheld cell phone and
text-messaging bans for drivers are clearly being largely
ignored by a significant segment of the population. Given the
nominal penalties for this behavior and sporadic enforcement
efforts, it is not surprising that the public does not take
these bans seriously. The author of this bill contends that the
laws regarding the use of wireless communications devices while
operating a motor vehicle have been effective, but that
compliance could be improved if stronger penalties were
established, such as increasing the fines and assigning points
against the records of violators. These efforts to reduce
distracted driving would be further strengthened, he believes,
by establishing an education program designed to inform drivers
of the risks of talking and text messaging using a wireless
communications device while driving.
Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety, writing in opposition to
this bill, cites a multi-year meta-analysis of collisions
conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which
reviewed multiple jurisdictions with anti-cellphone laws for
drivers (including California) as well as control group
jurisdictions without such laws. "The evidence from that
multi-state study shows that California's anti-cellphone laws
for driver have had a statistically insignificant influence upon
the rate and severity of collisions, despite a quantifiable
reduction in drivers' illegal use of mobile phone devices. The
reason for the insignificance of hands-free use versus hands-on
use is attributed to the fact that the manner in which the
cellphone is used is irrelevant, because it is the conversation
itself that distracts drivers and contributes to collisions."
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While the dangers of using electronic devices while driving are
well-documented, this bill additionally extends the reach of
current law by proposing a prohibition against bicyclists using
a handheld phone or text messaging. Although such behavior by
bicyclists is clearly irresponsible, poses an obvious and
substantial danger to themselves, and puts pedestrians, runners,
and other bicyclists at some risk, it pales in comparison to the
specter of a 2-ton steel-and-glass vehicle moving at 60 miles
per hour with the driver's attention focused on a device on his
or her lap. Hence, there clearly is a lesser urgency in
deterring such behavior by bicyclists. Nevertheless, as the
bill establishes a comparatively small fine ($20 to $50) with no
penalty assessments and no assignment of driver violation points
for bicycle violations, one might judge these provisions to be
more educational in nature than punitive.
Legislative history : This bill is very similar to SB 1475
(Simitian - 2010), which passed the both Senate and this
committee, but died on Suspense in the Assembly Appropriations
Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
AAA Northern California
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety
California Bicycle Coalition
California Association of Highway Patrolmen
Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety
Driving School Association of California, Inc.
Metropolitan Transportation Commission
Traffic Safety Consultants, Inc.
Verizon Wireless
180 Individual letters
Opposition
Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety
Analysis Prepared by : Howard Posner / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093
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