Ohio is one step closer to becoming the 38th state to ban texting while driving and the first to prevent its youngest drivers from talking or typing on any hand-held electronic device.
The bill says drivers younger than 18 cannot use any hand-held electronic device — such as cellphones, tablets and GPS direction-finders — and makes it a primary offense.
It also bans texting for all other drivers, although that would be a secondary offense, meaning an officer first would have to cite the driver for another violation.
Despite lingering questions over enforcement, a Senate committee voted 6-3 yesterday to approve the bill. The full Senate is expected to take it up Thursday.
The House-passed version of the bill made texting a primary offense, but Senate Republicans would not pass it unless it was weakened.
“A primary offense would make it much more enforceable,” said Jay McDonald, president of the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio. Under the bill now, “it’s an after-the-fact kind of enforcement. It would force law enforcement to seek search warrants in cases of bad crashes to see if they were texting. For a minor misdemeanor, that’s a lot of extra hoops.”
Some youths question why the bill targets them more than other drivers.
“I don’t like that it’s 16- and 17-year-olds,” said Jeremy Boyd, a 17-year-old junior at Metro Early College High School. “When I’m driving, I see adults on the phone more than me. The law should be general.”
Boyd said he doesn’t text while driving now, only using the GPS on his phone when at a stoplight. He and his friends said the focus on young drivers might be misdirected.
“A lot of kids are actually more cautious with texting because we know we’re new drivers,” said Ruthy Schumacher, 17, also a junior at Metro High. “People who’ve been driving longer think they can do anything.”
Eleven states ban cellphones for minors while driving, but Sen. Tom Patton, R-Strongsville, said that with the emergence of electronic tablets, that doesn’t go far enough. For drivers younger than 18, a first offense would be a $150 fine and a 60-day license suspension. It grows to a $300 fine and one-year suspension for repeat violations.
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