Law must punish distracted drivers

And it shouldn’t take a law to end this bad habit, but we support any proposal that will.
State lawmakers are again trying to make it illegal for drivers to text or read texts or e-mails while driving. They should get the job done before the holiday recess.
Under the proposal, passed by the House Dec. 9, distracted driving would become a secondary offense. That means police would need some other reason to pull motorists over before they could be cited for texting. Drivers who are caught messaging while driving would receive a fine — a non-negotiable $100 — but no points would be added to their driving record.
While many lawmakers and law enforcement agencies would like the misdemeanor to be a primary offense, it doesn’t look like that will happen. Some lawmakers have pointed out the law can eventually be amended — like the seat-belt law was — to change the offense from secondary to primary. ...
Distracted driving has become a major problem on our roads. According to a 2006 study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nearly 80 percent of accidents and 65 percent of near-accidents involve a driver looking away from the roadway within three seconds of the event
Several recent Muskegon area accidents also have been caused by distracted driving. A car-pedestrian accident in Ravenna in November was believed to have been caused because both the driver and the walker were distracted. The driver had dropped his cell phone and was trying to pick it up off the floor when he crossed the center line. The walker was listening to her iPod and unaware of the car coming toward her.
She was seriously injured. Numerous others across the state have been killed.
It shouldn’t take too much debate in the state Senate to get this bill approved. Anyone who has driven a couple miles in the past week has seen a driver distracted by his or her cell phone. The bill should not be stymied again because of a disagreement over making the offense secondary or primary.
Michigan needs to join the 18 other states that have laws prohibiting all drivers from texting and the 10 that have laws just affecting teens.
Saving lives should be an easy decision.


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