Utah Law Talk

The National Safety Council or NSC has issued a call to motorists, businesses and lawmakers throughout the 50 states to ban the use of cell phones and text messaging devices while motorists’ cars are in motion. A report by the Harvard Center of Risk Analysis says that around 636,000 car accidents happen every year from drivers who talk on their cell phone or who text. Of these auto accidents, around 2,600 involve fatalities and 330,000 involve injuries. “Studies show that driving while talking on a cell phone is extremely dangerous and puts drivers at a four times greater risk of a crash,” said Janet Froetscher, president and CEO of the NSC. “Driving drunk is also dangerous and against the law. When our friends have been drinking, we take the car keys away. It’s time to take the cell phone away.”

There has been recent legislative proposals in Utah that call for the use of hands-free devices while driving. The NSC, however, takes issue with whether these devices actually make driving while on the phone safer than simply putting the phone to the ear. In fact, the NSC cites to our own University of Utah study where researchers showed that talking on one of the many hands-free devices is actually not any safer than talking on a hand-held cell phone. Certainly this study calls into question the effectiveness of pending legislation where hands-free only cell devices are endorsed as a solution to the growing epidemic of cell phone-related Utah car accidents.

The NSC call to action also focuses on things that businesses can do to stem cell and text messaging accidents. It would seem that businesses would be very interested in this proposal since they stand to face big liability issues once the fact finder discovers that their employee was talking on their cell phone or text messaging on company time. Those business that never imposed limitations on cell phone use while driving will be the hardest hit since it is now widely accepted that cell phone and texting while driving can be a huge distraction.

NSC president commented: “Anyone with a busy job knows the temptation to multi-task and stay in touch with the office while driving, believe me, I’ve been there. I didn’t realize how much risk I was taking. Most people don’t. Employers understand how dangerous the behavior is and their potential liability. We are asking all businesses to join us by adopting policies banning calling and texting while driving on the job.”

According to studies by the Insurance Information Institute, a motorists’ ability to operate a vehicle safely is seriously compromised when that motorist is sending or reading a text message or is using their cell phone since motorists not only take their eyes off the road but get intensely involved in their conversations such that they cannot concentrate on the road. A recent survey by Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. shows the magnitude of the problem: 73% of the participants in the study talk on their cell phones while driving.

Text messaging accidents has also become a big problem, especially among teen-aged drivers, since you are combining the inexperience of youth with the highly-distracting activity of text messaging. Nationwide Insurance in their study of January of 2007 found that 19% of motorists admitted to texting while driving. But that was two years ago. I’m sure the percentage is much higher now. Since then, we have learned that Salt Lake is tied for second place in the nation for number of text messages sent and received. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety have said that motorists who talk and text while driving are four times more likely to becoming involved in a Utah car accident with injuries than motorists who don’t use these devices.

I do know that in my office we are seeing an increase in the number of Utah car accidents caused by cell phone and/or text messaging use. This includes one of our current clients who was seriously injured when a motorist blew through a red light and hit my client’s car as he was driving through an intersection. This caused his car to spin out of control and strike a pedestrian who was getting ready to cross the street and who was unable to get out of the way quick enough. The woman admitted to police that she had been texting at the time she ran the red light.

Published by: Ron Kramer

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

A recent study shows that Salt Lake City is tied for second place for the number of text messages sent. Salt Lake tied with Dallas and Memphis for high texting rates. The “winner” overall was El Paso, TX. According to a story in KSL.com, the research firm Scarborough Research found that more than half of Salt Lake residents use their phone for text messaging and that the bulk of those texting are younger. Only 7 percent of Salt Lake’s cell phone users access the internet with their phones.

People commenting on this article wrote about the obvious: that high texting rates can lead to high distraction rate for Salt Lake drivers who text while driving, thereby leading to car accidents. Currently, there is no law in Utah, or Salt Lake City for that matter, that forbids texting while driving. While Utah Code Annotated 41-6a-1715 prohibits “careless driving,” a person will only be guilty of this ordinance if they first commit a moving violation in conjunction with using their cell phone or texting device. In other words, the law says you can text all you want while driving, you just can’t cause a car accident while doing so. This is a little backward, in my opinion.

While assorted Utah cities have laws that require cell phone users to use a hands-free device when talking on their phone, no city has enacted any law that bans text messaging while driving. Other progressive states, such as California, recently enacted such a law. Effective January 1, 2009, the California law prohibits drivers from reading, writing or sending text messages while operating a motor vehicle. First-time offenders in California will face a $20 fine with subsequent fines going up to $50. Gov. Schwarzenegger, in signing the law, said in a statement: “Banning electronic text messaging while driving will keep drivers’ hands on the wheel and their eyes on the road, making our roadways a safer place for all Californians.”

Ron Kramer is a Utah personal injury lawyer who primarily represents those injured in car accidents due to the carelessness of others, including those who cause accidents while text messaging or using their cell phones. He can be reached at 801-553-8838.

Published by: Ron Kramer