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SALT LAKE CITY — Lawmakers who have been engaged in a tug of war to either slacken or stiffen a texting and driving law passed last year have reached middle ground.
A Senate committee approved a legislative compromise Wednesday that would allow only single-touch or voice command cellphone use while driving. The bill would prohibit drivers from talking on hand-held cellphones.
Rep. Jacob Anderegg, R-Lehi, said he worked with Sen. Steve Urquhart, R-St. George, to reach agreement on competing bills that would alter last year’s distracted driving law, which prohibits manipulating a cellphone while operating a motor vehicle.
Urquhart initially sponsored a bill this year to allow only hands-free cellphone use, countering Anderegg’s attempts to pull back on parts of the 2014 law. But Anderegg said they’ve collaborated on HB63 and have agreed upon a bill that would tighten some elements of last year’s law, but also outline some exceptions to allow single-touch use.
“It was a compromise on (Urquhart’s) side — it was definitely a compromise on my side — and yet it got us incrementally a step closer to where I want to be,” Anderegg said.
He said he understands law enforcement officers opposed his previous bill because they believed it would pull the law too far back to a time when they had difficulties enforcing laws that prohibited texting but not dialing, and it was problematic to distinguish between the two.
But the law passed last year prohibits manipulating and dialing. It outlaws sending, writing or reading text messages, instant messages or emails; dialing a phone number; accessing the Internet; viewing or recording a video; and typing in data on a smartphone or other mobile device.
It’s still lawful to look up contact information, use voice commands, view GPS or navigation coordinates and talk on a hand-held device while driving.
HB63 would prohibit a person from manually operating or viewing information from a hand-held wireless device while driving, but it would not prohibit the use of a wireless device that is specifically designed for hands-free talking and listening, and it would allow one-touch actions to activate those devices.
“I believe hands-free is where we’re going to get to inevitably because technology is moving so fast that hands-free is going to be incorporated as a component of driving in most every vehicle built going forward,” Anderegg said.
The bill would include exceptions from last year’s law that allow a person to use a hand-held device while driving during a medical emergency or when reporting a crime, safety hazard or requesting safety assistance. On-duty law enforcement officers or emergency personnel would also still be exempt from the law.
HB63 would have also upped the maximum fine if a person is convicted of violating the law from $100 to $500, but the Senate committee approved an amendment by Sen. Kevin Van Tassell Wednesday that would keep the punishment at a class C misdemeanor with a maximum $100 fine.
Van Tassell, R-Vernal, said a $500 fine “seemed a little steep,” but he added it’s a different story when a person injures another for distracted driving.
HB63 would maintain current law that makes it a class B misdemeanor when a violation leads to injury, which carries a maximum fine of $1,000, but Van Tassell said lawmakers should consider raising that penalty in the future.
The consequences are “devastating to families,” Van Tassell said, referring to a St. George man, a husband and father, who was killed in 2013 by a driver who was allegedly texting.
Anderegg agreed with Van Tassell.
“If you are actually causing physical damage or bodily injury, that should be more stringent,” Anderegg said. “And if you kill someone, that’s serious.”
Anderegg said he intends to bring the issue to an interim committee so lawmakers can continue to scrutinize distracted driving laws and penalties next year.
“This is something that we’re certainly going to address again,” Anderegg said.
The Senate Transportation and Public Utilities and Technology Committee passed HB63 and its amendments with a 3-0 vote. The bill now moves on to the full Senate. Email: kmckellar@deseretnews.com
