Cell phone follow-up: Don’t mess with the Governator

Following-up on this week’s city3BL post regarding bans on driving while using a cell phone, it’s worth noting a story out of California that is quickly getting a lot of attention.  As reported by CNN.com, the web site TMZ posted video on Tuesday of Maria Shriver talking into a cell phone while driving.  Reportedly, it’s not the first time for the state’s first lady.  And California has a law banning use of handheld communication devices while driving, in place since July 2008.  It was Shriver’s husband, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who supported the ban and signed it into law. 

Shriver was not caught or cited by the police, and there was no accident.  She has since donated her cell phone to bring attention to the HopeLine program which provides phones to domestic violence shelters.  But she may have bigger worries.  The reported reaction from the governor to TMZ: “Thanks for bringing her violations to my attention. There’s going to be swift action.”  While she ponders the meaning of that warning, it’s also unfortunte for the first lady that when it comes to the issue of distracted driving, she might just become the high-profile poster-child.  Fortunately for the rest of us, maybe it will generate the boost of attention that’s sorely needed for this serious problem.

Driver cellphone laws showing progress

At this very moment, 812,000 drivers are on their cellphones.  While that number sinks in, consider that cell phones and text messaging result in 636,000 crashes, 2600 deaths and 342,000 injuries, each year.  The numbers are so staggering that there’s little choice but to regulate the use of cellphones while driving.  There’s now a patchwork of city and state laws across the country, and a new study shows that the bans are working. 

As reported by The Washington Post, the nonprofit Insurance Institute for Highway Safety studied three jurisdictions that were early adopters of cellphone laws.  In Wahington, D.C., for instance, the study concluded that “use of hand-helds would be 43 percent higher were it not for the District’s ban and the vigor with which police have enforced it.” 

The problem’s a long way from being solved, as nearly any drive in nearly any city will prove, even in D.C. which has the ban.  But the cellphone laws are proving that they can make a difference.  And as the numbers above show, this is a public safety issue that can’t be ignored.