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Editorial Roundup: Pennsylvania

V.Davis3 months ago

By The Associated Press

Recent editorials of statewide and national interest from Pennsylvania’s newspapers:

Toothless cell-phone ban could make Pa. highways more dangerous

Easton Express-Times

Jan. 19

In trying to correct a weakness in Pennsylvania’s distracted-driving laws — drivers are still permitted to use hand-held phones, except for texting — lawmakers demonstrated last week that they can’t leave bad enough alone.

The debate started out with good intent. The House of Representatives, led by state Rep. Rosemary Brown, R-Monroe, was attempting an update that would outlaw speaking on hand-held cell phones while driving.

Since 2011 it has been illegal to send or read text messages while driving, and it is a primary offense — meaning police officers can pull over a motorist they observe texting at the wheel. The maximum fine is $50; a conviction doesn’t add points to one’s driving record.

From the outset, the texting ban proved difficult to enforce, but the “stop texting” campaigns that followed probably had some deterrent effect. And it was better than the “anything-goes” permissiveness that preceded it.

Brown’s bill was overdue. It would have been similar to laws in the states surrounding Pennsylvania. Police wouldn’t need to discern whether you are texting or calling to make a traffic stop. New Jersey and 19 other states prohibit all uses of hand-held communication devices while driving.

But that was too much for House conservatives, who saw the bill as a threat to freedom on the roads. (As opposed, say, to being free from tailgating, cutoffs and collisions instigated by people whose minds are focused on phone conversations.)

The opponents, mostly Republicans, were joined by a group of Democratic black representatives who see an expansion of police powers as an invitation to racial profiling.

Minority Whip Jordan Harris, D-Philadelphia, argued that cell-phone violations should be secondary offenses — meaning police would have to observe a primary offense, such as speeding or reckless driving, to make a stop and issue a ticket for cell phone use.

“As an African-American male who crisscrosses this commonwealth, I am nervous at times when I’m driving in Pennsylvania,” Harris said. “That is real.”

Fair enough. What’s also real is the need to get drivers off the phone. For everyone’s safety.

After attaching amendments to Brown’s bill, the House managed to knee-cap the existing law — not only would speaking on a hand-held phone be a secondary offense, but texting while driving would be demoted from a primary to a secondary offense.

Instead of addressing an inherent weakness in enforcement — the difficulty police face in trying to distinguish between calling and texting in moving vehicles — the House majority has all but assured a free ride for drivers to do both.

Unless, of course, they commit a higher-level infraction. Or kill someone in the process.

The House bill now goes to the Senate, which would do well to revisit Brown’s language and put the teeth back in a cell-phone ban.

Failing that, the existing law would be preferable to another “fix.”

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