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®!* Jßortlanb (Obseruer
April 17,2013
Getting Serious About Distracted Driving
Lawmakers consider big fines
C ari H achmann
T he P ortland O bserver
Fines for distracted driv in g —
texting o r using a handheld cell
p h o n e — c o u ld co st as m u ch as
$ 1,000 if a bill in S alem passes.
U nder Senate Bill 9, sponsored
by Sen. P eter C ourtney (D -S alem ),
violatio n s for using tex tin g and
m obile devices w hile driving w ould
m ove from class D status to class B,
clearing the w ay for fines to in
crease from the current lim it o f $250.
by
fines could soar to
$1,000 for distracted
driving under a proposed
Oregon law.
“If it w as m y w ay, we w ould treat
d istracted driving the sam e w ay we
treat drinking and driving in the
state,” C ourtney said.
A nother bill, filed in the H ouse
by R ep. C arolyn T om ei, goes fu r
ther w ith plans to increase the o f
fense to class A status w ith fines up
to $2,000.
T he bills are indication that O r
egon is getting serious about dis
tracted driving. T he state has al
ready outlaw ed cell phone use by all
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drivers, including drivers w ho use
cell phones fo r calls related to their
jo b . C ell phones w ith hands free
a tta c h m e n ts, lik e B lu e to o th s o r
Jabras, are only allow ed for those
o v e r 18-years-old and text m essag
ing is b anned by all drivers w ith
penalties upw ards o f $142.
L ast year, O regon S tate P o lice
stopped m ore than 4 ,0 0 0 drivers fo r
using a ce ll phone. H iding the phone
i s n ’t f o o lin g a n y o n e , o f f ic e r s
w arned, and h o ld in g it o n sp eak er is
also illegal.
D istracted w hile y o u ’re driving
can be catastrophic, said the O r
eg o n D ep artm en t o f T ran sp o rtatio n
in a recen t press statem en t h ig h
lighting th e im portance o f travelers
staying alert b ehind the w heel, re
leased on b eh alf o f ‘ ‘D istracted D riv
ing A w aren ess” m onth.
“D istracted driving is a b ehavior
th a t’s d angerous to drivers, p as
sengers and even people w alking or
b ik in g ,” said T ro y E. C o sta le s,
O D O T ’s safety division ad m inis
trator.
- From 2 0 0 9 to 2011,41 people died
in O regon from distracted driving
crashed and in 2011 alone, there
w ere m ore than 200 crashes involv
ing d rivers on a cell phone.
“W h en drivers divert th eir atten
tion from the task o f driving to focus
on som e oth er activity, th e y ’ve in
creased th eir ch an ces o f g etting in
a crash ,” said C ostales.
T h e sam e is true fo r bicyclists
and p ed estrian s w ho are distracted,
said C ostales, w ho noted that five
bicyclists and pedestrians w ere also
k illed in crashes w hile they w ere
d istracted .
D an g ero u s situations arise w hen
bicy clists and pedestrians m ay be
listening to earphones o r sending a
text m essag e and not w atching or
listening fo r o n co m in g cars, trains
o r o th e r traffic on busy streets or
cro ssw alk s.
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