For a year now, it has been the law in New Hampshire that you have to keep your hands on the wheel – and off your smartphone – when you are driving your car, or even stopped at a traffic light. Has the ban made our roads safer?
Common sense, and stacks of research, say the answer must be yes. For those of us who suffer from an irresistible impulse to answer the phone, or read a text, the ban on using hand-held electronic devices except in an emergency has helped change our bad behavior – or at least deter it.
But, according to state and local law enforcement, there are plenty of drivers who blatantly violate the ban, sneak around with their phones on their lap, or just deny they were using. Or they plead ignorance, despite a year-long public education campaign before the law went into effect in July 2015. It’s a lame excuse.
Drivers have had plenty of notice. It is time for the ban to be strictly enforced. Violators face a $100 fine plus fees for the first offense, $250 for the second and $500 for any additional violation within 24 months. Hands-free use is legal, but not for drivers under 18, who also face losing their license.
These are stiff penalties for good reason.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration points to a study that says your eyes are off the road for about 5 seconds to send a text, which, at 55 mph, is enough time to drive the length of a football field. Imagine the consequences of that moment of distraction while driving a 3,500-pound SUV.
“It could be devastating. It’s just not worth it,” Lt. Timothy O’Malley of the Concord Police Department told us.
Reaching for a phone, dialing or texting, triples your chance of getting into a crash, according to a study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. According to the government, at any given daylight moment in our country, 660,000 drivers are using a cell phone or manipulating electronic devices while driving. In a 2015 survey, one-third of drivers admitted to texting while driving. It’s got to stop.
New Hampshire is now one of 14 states and the District of Columbia that ban drivers from using hand-held devices. In the past year, state police stopped more than 6,000 drivers for violating the hand-held ban. More than 3,000 of those drivers were given citations, the remainder a verbal warning. During the same period, Concord police issued 186 summonses and 474 warnings.
Alcohol, drug abuse and speeding are the leading causes of highway deaths in New Hampshire. It is too early to link a significant drop in distracted driving deaths from 2014 to 2015 to the ban on hand-held phones, as reported recently by the Nashua Telegraph. The hand-held ban is aimed at stopping accidents before they happen.
By observation, driver usage of mobile devices is down.
“In the big picture of how bad it was, it is remarkably better,” said Capt. Matthew Shapiro of the state police.
Of course, maybe phone-addicted drivers are just cagier. Continued reports of drivers surfing the net or watching videos are terrifying. Be safe. Pull over, or get a hands-free setup or a dashboard cradle for your device. Comply with the law, before someone gets hurt.
We recognize the ban on hand-held devices is tough to enforce – as Lt. O’Malley said, there’s no dead giveaway of a violation, like alcohol on a driver’s breath, or hard evidence from a speed trap.
We understand the need for discretion in law enforcement. But one year of public education, and one year on the books, is enough time to “break in” a new law, especially when the potential danger to other drivers, and pedestrians, is so great.
Start handing out more tickets.