Verizon Wireless’ recent announcement that it would back laws restricting the use of cell phones while driving in Illinois may pump fresh life into attempts by local communities across the country to pass such regulations. The decision also showed the first cracks in the wireless industry’s stance that education, and not regulation, is the answer to driver distractions caused by mobile phones.
Even before the wireless carrier’s recent announcement, local governments have continued their fight to implement ordinances banning the mix of cell phones and driving. Most recently, a California Traffic Safety Summit was called for this week in Sacramento, Calif., by Assemblywoman Audie Brock concerning cell-phone use while driving.
“The purpose will be to discuss legislative proposals that I am considering. I have invited cellular-phone companies, auto manufacturers, traffic-safety experts and others,” Brock told the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal. “While I have not made a final decision on the legislation, I am considering several ideas that at least should be brought before the legislature for full public hearings and possible enactment into law. The problems are real and we would be remiss in not seriously addressing them.”
The debate as to whether local communities have the right to pass traffic ordinances that may differ from state or federal laws may be a roadblock to enacting such legislation.
A Pennsylvania judge recently found that Hilltown Township, Pa., passed such an ordinance that was in conflict with the state’s existing motor-vehicle codes. A lawyer representing Hilltown told the Philadelphia Inquirer, “I surely can’t quarrel with [the order] because I understand the problem with each township having its own ordinance. But that still doesn’t solve the problem of why the state legislature hasn’t dealt with the problem.”
Even though the town’s ordinance was overturned, Kenneth Bennington, chairman of the Hilltown board of supervisors, echoed many community leaders around the country when he noted the board was proud it raised awareness concerning the dangers of using a cell phone while driving.
Communities are also receiving help from corporations looking at ways to avoid traffic accidents caused by employees. Many, including Houston-based energy company Apache, and pharmaceutical company Merck, have passed out safety bulletins to their employees on the use of wireless phones while driving or distributed hands-free kits to their employees.
Before Verizon Wireless agreed to support the legislation in Illinois, the company provided new employees who drive a company car a defensive driving course, including tips on cell-phone use.
While many of the proposed ordinances include clauses allowing the use of hands-free kits, opponents note a study done by the University of Toronto found that even using a hands-free device while driving was four times more likely to cause an accident than not using a cell phone at all.
The wireless industry, on the other hand, has continued its stance that education is the only way to teach people about using their cell phones safely, and that there are already laws on the books allowing police departments to ticket people for dangerous driving.
Sprint PCS said that the over-regulation of cell-phone use was unnecessary, and that legislatures were “picking on” the wireless industry. The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association noted it does not even get involved in local or state legislation, focusing its attention on the federal level.
Some see CTIA’s stance, and the rest of the wireless industry as a whole, on the issue of regulation as counterproductive to the industry and the customers it serves.
“I think that organization [CTIA] is just a tool of the wireless companies,” said Amanda McCarthy, a wireless industry analyst at Forrester Research Inc. “If they really wanted to help the industry, they would embrace the safety aspects of wireless phones. Customers have shown that they want that safety and are willing to pay for that safety.”
McCarthy noted that the industry as a whole should, and will, follow the lead of Verizon in supporting legislation on restricting the use of mobile phones in the car.
“The wireless industry needs to look around and see how other countries have passed restrictions on the use of cell phones,” McCarthy added. “People in those countries have supported the regulations. Carriers need a way to differentiate themselves from their competition, and backing safety issues is a great way to do it.”
