Editorial: Jack up penalties for cell phone abuse

From the Ridgfield Press:

Written by Jack Sanders
Saturday, 08 August 2009 06:39

Stone sober soccer moms and corporate executives, jabbering on their cell phones, may be as likely to kill you on the road as a drunk driver is.

For decades, as public safety officials have railed against drunken driving, states have enacted stiffer standards and penalties for operating under the influence. With good reason: Drunken driving kills more than 13,000 Americans a year.

However, no stiff penalties accompany a driving offense that kills some 2,600 people a year and causes 330,000 accidents involving injuries: Talking on the telephone, be it with voice or, worse, texting.

Some of the statistics are frightening.

• A University of Utah study found that drivers talking on a phone are four times more likely to crash than other drivers, and are as likely to cause an accident as someone with a 0.08 blood alcohol content.

• More than 60% of teenagers are using their cell phones as they drive, and more than 20% of all fatal car crashes involving drivers aged 16 and 19 were attributed to cell phone use while driving.

In the past two and a half years, Ridgefield police have ticketed nearly 3,000 motorists breaking the state’s law against using hand-held phones while driving. That seems an astounding number, but considering how dangerous these drivers can be, it’s not enough.

Penalties should match those for drunken driving. Impose big fines and license suspensions as a punishment and maybe there will be less yakking while driving.