IMHO: New Washington State Texting While Driving Law Strikes The Right Balance
by Russell Shaw
As one who lives 15 minutes from Washington State, and drives up to and in traffic-clogged Seattle often, I say:
Mad props to the new texting-while-driving law that took effect in Washington State on New Year’s Day.
Under a new law that takes effect today, drivers who read and compose text messages could face a $124 ticket. If texting while driving leads to a car accident, the ticket could increase to $175.
“Any distraction is a bad distraction, but texting in particular,” Washington State Patrol spokesperson Bob Calkins tells the Associated Press. “Nobody is that good a driver that they can have their eyes down looking at a PDA [personal digital assistant] and not looking at the road.”
IMHO the law strikes a balance between personal freedom and community safety.
Under this statute, texting while driving is a secondary offense. This means motoring texters can’t be busted for that act alone. They have to be pulled over for another offense, such as driving too closely (a.k.a. tailgating, but you already know that), speeding, blowing through a red light, driving w/expired tags, etc.
Even if you get cited, a texting-while-driving citation will not become part of your driving record. Nor will this infraction be reported to your insurance company.
Another out:
A ticket will not become part of a driver’s record, and dialing a phone is not considered text messaging. The measure exempts transit and emergency-vehicle personnel, as well as anyone who is text-messaging to report illegal activity or summon emergency help.
Yes, but if I were driving, and saw a disabled vehicle with a freaked out motorist on the side of the road, my immediate reax after a quick “there but for fortune go I” would be to call 911, not text it.
I’d figure that with all the rubber-neckers taking their eyes off the road to eyeball the situation on the shoulder, me texting-in the report (presuming I would have text addys for whatever jurisdiction I’d be driving thru) would only create conditions for a collision.
