On capital hill in Salt Lake City, Utah, lawmakers are debating new proposals to reduce the number of motorists who text message or use their cell phones while driving. According to KSL News, lawmakers say they are tired of hearing about drivers who drive while they are distracted. One proposal by Rep. Paul Ray of Clinton would ban texting while driving and while in parking lots and school zones. Another proposal by Rep. Phil Riesen of Salt Lake would prohibit both text messaging while cell phone use while driving. A violation of this law would be a class-C misdemeanor with possible jail time.
Yet another proposal, and probably the least restrictive, is proposed by Rep. Carol Spackman Moss of Holladay. She proposes that only hands-free devices can be used while driving. This would most likely eliminate texting since it is hard to text without using fingers.
I think these legislative proposals will provide a good start for a discussion on how to reduce the distractions that cell phone use and text messaging can cause. Currently, using a cell phone while driving is mostly allowed in cities in Utah. A few, however, have laws restricting cell phone use to hands-free devices. As far as texting goes, there are no laws the flat out prohibit it. There are laws, however, that make it a secondary offense if the at-fault motorist causes a car accident while text messaging or talking on their cell phones.
Ron Kramer is a personal injury attorney with offices in Draper, Utah and Provo, Utah (coming) who represents those injured by distracted motorists who were text messaging and talking on their cell phones at the time of a car accident.
Published by: Ron Kramer
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