(Host intro) Vermont drivers might have to put down their cell phones.
As VPR’s Bob Kinzel reports, the Vermont House gave preliminary approval today to a bill that would ban the use of hand-held electronic devices while driving.
(Kinzel) The legislation set off a spirited debate between House members who believe that state government has a role in mandating driver safety laws and those representatives who think that state government can’t legislate common sense and that adults have the right to make decisions for themselves.
The bill includes a hand held cell phone ban for drivers and it imposes a primary enforcement seat belt law.
This means that police officers will be able to pull a car over if they witness a seat belt violation. Currently, an officer can do this only if they’ve stopped the car for a different reason.
Moretown Rep. Maxine Grad is the lead sponsor of the bill.
(Grad) "Crashes and fatalities cost Vermonters money through programs such as workers comp, Medicaid, drains our law enforcement and emergency services. Yet much of this is preventable. H147 is an attempt to save lives and make our communities safer."
(Kinzel) And Grad argued that the hand-held cell phone ban was needed to help prevent future accidents.
(Grad) "The drivers who are talking on cell phones are four times as likely to have an accident than those who are not on cell phones and that cell phones are actually more distracting than other listening or speaking and that driver distraction factor is a risk in 80 percent of crashes."
(Kinzel) Glover Rep. John Rodgers opposed the cell phone ban and the primary enforcement seat belt provision. He argued that the bill was an effort by the state to overregulate people’s lives.
(Rodgers) "To me it’s not so much a matter of safety as it is a matter of freedom in the choices we all have to make every day. There’s inherent risk in walking out our front door every morning. And if we are truly trying to remove all risks from Vermonters and people who come to Vermont, then perhaps we should outlaw skiing and snowboarding because there is inherent risk. And I don’t think we’re willing to do that."
(Kinzel) The bill also includes a new nighttime driving restriction for young drivers with junior licenses. These individuals would be prohibited from driving between 1 and 5 a.m.
The measure will come up final approval in the House on Friday.
For VPR News, I’m Bob Kinzel in Montpelier