Clark, Perdue & List's Blog

The growing number of reports of traffic fatalities caused by drivers who were text messaging while at the wheel has led several cities and states to consider or pass laws prohibiting such activity. Governor Arnold Schwarzeneger recently banned drivers younger than 18 years of age from using mobile devices. In Phoenix, the city council just proposed legislation outlawing text messaging while driving. Here in Ohio, Cleveland democratic Rep. Michael DeBose has gone on the record to state that "No right-thinking person . . . should be opposed to limiting the texting ability of teenagers while driving."

Although no state currently forbids all cell phone usage while driving, several have passed laws drastically limiting it. According to the American Automobile Association, it is now illegal to use hand-held phones when driving in five states and the District of Columbia. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports that as many as 20 states are considering legislation that would toughen cell phone driving restrictions. Not surprisingly, the laws of eight of those states are directed at teen drivers. The Institute expects that number to grow, as studies confirm that enforcing traffic safety laws does have an effect on driver behavior.

While the Ohio State Highway Patrol has said that it cannot quantify just how many accidents are caused by the use of cell phones, studies show that they undoubtedly distract drivers. One study published in the British Medical Journal concluded that crashes causing injury are four times more likely to occur to drivers who use cell phones. According to that same study, hands-free devices do not act to reduce that number.

In another study conducted by AAA and Seventeen Magazine, nearly half of the teens who admitted to having engaged in risky driving practices said that they had talked or typed while driving.

Even proponents concede that such laws are difficult to enforce. But Michael Gareau Jr., a North Olmsted city councilman believes his city's ban on hand-held devices has, at minimum, raised the awareness of the dangers of cell phone use while driving. And, it is a well known fact that acknowledging dangerous behavior is the first step to modifying it.