Verizon Wireless turned the industry on its ear last week, announcing plans to support legislation in Illinois that would ban cell-phone use while driving unless the caller is using a hands-free device.
The decision is “in direct response to the political situation in Illinois and the City of Chicago,” said Jeffrey Nelson, executive director of corporate communications for Verizon Wireless.
As of now, Verizon is not supporting legislation in any other state, and will not do so unless there is both public and political will to take the necessary steps, Nelson said.
A law is being considered in Chicago that would require drivers to use only headsets while making mobile-phone calls. If passed, the Chicago ordinance would set a fine of $25 for the first offense and up to $100 if a cell phone was found to have contributed to an accident. The problem lies in an existing Illinois law that prohibits people to wear earphones while driving, leaving cell-phone users in Chicago with no legal alternative.
Annette Jacobs, president of Verizon’s Great Lakes region, testified before the Traffic Control and Safety Committee of the Chicago City Council that Verizon Wireless would support the repeal of the Illinois headset law and support passage of a statewide ban on in-vehicle cell-phone use without a hands-free device.
The law would have to be phased in over three years (similar to most seat-belt laws), giving manufacturers time to provide enough hands-free equipment. The law also must exempt calls for emergency services and enforce the same penalties as other driver-distraction laws already on the books, Verizon said.
Nelson emphasized the company only is interested in supporting statewide legislation.
“We will not support ordinances in any community in the country because they have the potential to make drivers less safe rather than more safe,” Nelson said. “If each one (community) had its own law about how to use phones while driving, you confuse drivers and distract them from driving safely.”
Verizon Wireless’ proactive stance on driving and dialing may endear the company to the public and raise the bar for other wireless carriers to do more to promote safe driving. Verizon’s decision, however, comes after several communities around the country-including Brooklyn Heights, Ohio, and Marlboro Township, N.J.-already took matters into their own hands and passed or are considering local legislation to ban in-vehicle cell-phone use.
Not everyone is expected to enthusiastically support or follow in Verizon’s footstep either. Nearly 70 percent of people with mobile phones use them in their cars, said David Bishop, director of wireless/mobile services for The Yankee Group in Boston. Passing a law is not likely to decrease that usage, he commented.
“There is adequate legislation out there to support driver distraction. It’s really an issue of common sense. We don’t believe you need legislation for common sense. If you make everyone aware of the issues and we continue to support education and safety-awareness campaigns, that should be sufficient enough,” Bishop said.
“I would be surprised if they (other carriers) came out and supported this decision. They will continue to support education and safety issues,” Bishop added.
Tom Wheeler, president of the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, downplayed Verizon’s break with the rest of the wireless industry, commenting; “Verizon has taken a position. Good for Verizon.”
Nonetheless, Verizon’s policy shift on driver distraction and its break with industry is a major blow to CTIA, given Verizon’s stature as the nation’s No. 1 wireless carrier. CTIA’s position on state and local laws that ban hands-on mobile-phone talking is `education, not legislation,’ a view also shared by the majority of other carriers.
Asked whether CTIA will get involved in the Illinois legal battle, Wheeler responded, “We don’t get involved in state activities.”
Meanwhile, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration plans to conduct field tests on driver distraction and update its 1997 investigation of the safety implications of wireless communications in vehicles.
Although other carriers are not likely to make the legal leap Verizon did, the company did receive some indirect endorsement from others in the industry.
Motorola Inc. would like to see a national policy that removes the prohibition on headsets, said Jim Caile, company spokesman speaking to RCR Wireless News at the Personal Communications Industry Association’s GlobalXChange show last week in Chicago. Motorola announced a new handset with speaker-phone capabilities at the show-negating the need for a headset.
Verizon’s Nelson said by 2002 the company will supply handsets with voice-activation capabilities, and it only supplies handsets that are hands-free compatible now.
