Plea to the governor: Don’t veto texting-while-driving bill
Dave Belton is an airline pilot who serves on the Morgan County school board. He worked very hard to assure passage of a bill banning texting while driving in the aftermath of the death of a college student from his area.
(Update Saturday morning: Belton is en route to South America for his pilot job, but has done four TV appearances in the last 48 hours to create public awareness that the texting bill is in jeopardy. His e-mail list is calling and e-mailing on behalf of the bill and the Facebook page for the legislation grew to over 1,200 people in just a few hours. Supporters are getting out in full force for this bill in the next five days as the governor is likely to act by Thursday. )
He won passage of the bill, but says now the governor may not sign it. Belton said he had a short meeting with Sonny Perdue today, but the governor remains skeptical of the ability to enforce this law, explaining “The issue is whether law enforcement would pull you over for glancing at your cell phone. Were you ‘reading a text’ which is illegal or placing a call which is legal?”
But Belton said the bill’s advocates vetted the bill with the governor’s lawyers. Without the bill, Morgan says it is likely 240 Georgians will die every year in texting-related accidents.
Here is his plea to Sonny Perdue to sign Caleb’s Law:
A bill sits on the governor’s desk that 91 percent of the public supports.
So why doesn’t he sign it?
“Caleb’s Law” was born last Christmas when an 18 student young man from Morgan County accidentally killed himself texting-while-driving. Instead of hushing up their son’s mistake, the brave Sorohan family went public, boldly taking their story to anyone who would listen. When they asked me – a local School Board member – to lobby for a law, I humbly said I would.
Our sad and difficult journey came to apparent fruition when the Senate voted unanimously and the House by a 113-24 margin to pass SB-360 – “Caleb’s Law.” The bi-partisan vote came on the last day of the session, after months of pain-staking work was done to perfect the language. The slain teen’s mother – sitting in the gallery – wept. Her only hope – her sole consolation – was that other mothers wouldn’t have to suffer the way she did.
Her solace was short-lived, however, when she learned the governor may veto the bill she’d fought so hard – and lost so much – to craft.
According to “Car and Driver,” the reaction time of someone TWD is three times worse than when legally drunk. The Department of Transportation claims that TWD causes 1.6 million accidents a year, causing half a million injuries and 6,000 deaths. Literally hundreds of Georgians die every year TWD.
Yet the governor’s office quibbles over “enforceability” issues?
Law enforcement doesn’t get the credit they deserve. They’re professionals. They’re trained to make life and death decisions every day. The idea that their unqualified to handle TWD cases is ludicrous, and frankly insulting.
No bill is perfect. Lawyers vetted this legislation for months. To kill the bill now would be a gross abrogation of the will of the hundreds of citizens all over the state who lobbied for this bill.
It would be a tragedy if the governor killed this bill, because it would literally kill more Georgians. Hundreds more – every year. The statistics prove it.
Law enforcement wants this law. So do cell phone companies. Insurance companies spend millions warning about the alarming statistics. Even lawyers are posting expensive billboards in an effort to stop this deadly epidemic.
Infinitely more important: mothers want this law.
Dave Belton (R), Board of Education member, Morgan County
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121 comments Add your comment
Mama Says
May 28th, 2010
9:25 pm
sorry guys I said reasonable suspension. I meant “reasonable suspicion”
Mama Says
May 28th, 2010
9:29 pm
Odd that this was in the paper today of all days. I was going to work today and a girl stepped of the curb in front of me—I almost hit her–she never looked to see if I was coming. Why ? she was on a cell phone. Wouldn’t that be walking while distracted ?
Roger
May 28th, 2010
9:29 pm
My 16 year old daughter told me that she was passed by a Gwinnett Co Police Officer that was talking on his cell phone and working on his in car computer while he was driving. Makes it very hard to tell her that she shouldn’t be on her cell phone.
Mama Says
May 28th, 2010
9:44 pm
Roger,
that is yet another reason—-The law says cops can ignore certain laws when in the performance of their duties, you know like running red lights, speeding etc….
What do cops do with all the electronic equipment in their cars—used for the job ?
Modern policing involves computer dispatch now—meaning the cop gets a message on his in car computer and goes to the call. What about talking on the radios while they are driving ?
It’s just an ill conceived law all the way around
dan deacon
May 28th, 2010
9:55 pm
It’s ludicrous to believe that this law can be enforced. In fact, it could become a law that is abused by law enforcement. I agree with the Governor, how can an officer determine if you were dialing someone (a legal action) or texting someone (a violation of the new law)? They can’t, so it becomes so discretionary that it will only lace lawyers pockets to represent those that were not texting in court. Lawyers are one of the reasons this country has become so complex to navigate law in. One law contradicts another….requiring a lawyer that charges money to protect your “rights”….which should have never been violated to begin with. Remember, the legislature that wanted this law are mostly lawyers. They want laws that are controversial so they can rape people’s bank accounts.
I dislike people texting as much as anyone, but if you’re going to ban texting then just ban using a cell phone while driving period.
Uncle Tom
May 28th, 2010
10:31 pm
Have there been adults who have sent text messages while driving that have been killed? Or were all of these teenagers who got killed?
cs
May 28th, 2010
10:41 pm
Without the bill, Morgan says it is likely 240 Georgians will die every year in texting-related accidents.
anybody stupid enough to read or write a book or text while driving aint gonna quit just because of some new law.
Common Sense
May 28th, 2010
10:50 pm
Why do some people think that a law is the answer to everything? Murder is illegal, yet people still do it. Speeding is illegal, yet people still do it. Entering this country without permission is very illegal, yet people do it (and others aid and abet them by failing to enforce those laws). Theft is illegal, yet people do it every day. You can’t expect to pass a law prohibiting everything that is stupid; too many people have no respect for the rule of law in the first place to be bothered by a rule such as this.
hind tit
May 28th, 2010
10:57 pm
i can’t believe for the life of me how stupid people are when they say there is no way it can be proved that a person was texting while driving. not only can they tell you if you were texting but every word that was sent, what time and where you were at when it was sent are if you was moving or seting still when it was sent. this is not the 1600 hundreds. why don’t you just talk to the person instead of going to all that trouble anyway.
wgd
May 28th, 2010
11:16 pm
@Worried Driver — Sorry, but you are mistaken. The bill, as written, will make it illegal to even “read” an email or text message while driving. If I receive an email at 10:00 AM and decide to read it while driving at 4:00 PM then no phone records from Verizon, AT&T, etc,, will show me “receiving” that message while I was driving. Idiot. The bill is porly written. If, in the above example, you check cell phone records, it will show the email/text as being received at 10:00 AM -Doesn’t matter when I “read” it — Geez.
sb
May 29th, 2010
1:34 am
What about a law against reading the newspaper, book , messing with the radio, putting on makeup,combing your hair, dealing with kids in the back seat, all of which I witness reguarly. Are people stupid enough to think that texting is the only thing that distracts drivers, causes accidents, injuries or deaths. Why not just outlaw driving cars!!!!!!!!!!!
sb
May 29th, 2010
1:44 am
What it amounts to is wireless carriers and cell phone companys are makeing money by the barrel, and the city, county, and state governments want there share. So they pass a law so they can basically fine everyone who they even “suspect” of using a cell phone while they are driving. People on here say they can’t prove you were texting, but you can’t prove you wern’t. Who is the judge gonna believe.
RickinATL
May 29th, 2010
9:12 am
I was just in traffic court last week (after being struck by a distracted driver) and every single one of the defendants accused of driving without a fastened seatbelt pleaded guilty and was assigned a $15 fine. If the law is so hard to enforce, why did all of these people plead guilty? It seems to me that they would not have wanted to ask a judge to accept their version of events vs. a trained officer’s version….
Those of you who think this law is about controlling your behavior are wrong. It is about establishing a deterrent–any deterrent–against an epidemic of reckless behavior that is endangering the public safety. And that deterrent is so badly needed that our failure of will in Georgia to establish it only proves to the rest of the world what a bunch of backcountry hicks we still are.
AJinCobb
May 29th, 2010
12:02 pm
I’m all for banning all cellphone use (hands-free or not) by drivers of any age. Studies show it’s all dangerous (yes, the hands-free talking as well). No phone call or text message is more important than the risk to public safety from distracted driving. It’s not good enough to say people should have the personal freedom to drive distractedly, and if they cause an accident, then we’ll throw the book at them. Much good that does other people who have been killed or injured due to the distracted driver’s hubris. If it’s acceptable to ban drunk driving, it should be acceptable to ban the equally dangerous practice of cellphone use while driving.
BlueDawg
May 29th, 2010
12:34 pm
@Common Sense: Might want to use a little of that sometime. Just because people break the law, that doesn’t invalidate the need for it. Think of how many people would kill others if it wasn’t against the law, or how many people would speed if that wasn’t illegal either? The point is to greatly reduce the number of people doing it. Most rational people do not break the law because they do not want to pay the penalty for doing so.
UnEnforceable
May 30th, 2010
5:22 am
It seems like a great idea in theory, but unless the offender is killed in said incident & the cell phone shows text msg was begun but not completed, you will have very little ability to “prove” someone was texting.
Imagine I am involved in an accident at 3:05pm. I may not have been texting but I text someone immediately after indicating “I will be late” (not to worry them). They pull records bc other person in accident realizes that there could be more $ damages-wise. Who can determine the exact time of when accident occurred?
Additionally, text messages can be delayed by system capacity issues. What if they pull your records & you were not texting but system does not note actual time of text? (I can assure you cell phone providers will not go to the trouble os disclosing such details.)
I text when I drive. (OMG!) but it will be in bumper to bumper traffic or sitting at a light. People get so fixated on texting – but what about the man shaving/looking in mirror while driving, the person reading a Kindle while driving, the person fiddling with a Navigation/gps, the woman doing make-up or painting nails, dealing with screaming/fighting children in backseat, or even my mothers utter paranoia at riding in car with me (I would be a less distracted driver completely plastered & texting than driving with her in car)?
It would be an extremely rare scenario where me not wearing mt seatbelt would lead to directly endangering you. (Now if I didn’t have medical insurance, we could argue that you would have to end up covering cost like everyone else) Aren’t MOST automobile accidents the result of not paying attention?
There are many things that can distract us driving. Problem is – this legislation doesn’t acknowledge reality of technology. I am never a fan of goverment legislating our behavior in our own “best interest”-let’s remember how well the laws on sex toys and sodomy have been enforced… people need to be more accountable for their actions – rather than having the government attempt to deter/enforce actions?.
DoubleAction of Clayton County
May 31st, 2010
8:21 am
Fat too many people has already killed or injured by distractions while operating motor vehicles !!
http://claytonwatchdog.proboards.com/index.cgi
Al Lopez
May 31st, 2010
2:06 pm
Gov. Perdue needs to sign the texting bill. Texting while dricing is dangerous and people just don’t seem to understand. An email or text message will NEVER be worth taking someone’s life. Any responsible driver should shut down its phone, pull over, or consider a hands-free texting application like TextnDrive. There are so many alternatives on the market these days, drivers have no excuse to still type while driving.
Kat
June 2nd, 2010
1:28 am
Was the kid really “slain?” I don’t think so. No violence happened upon him. He happened upon himself.
s2k
June 21st, 2010
6:37 am
I think a lot of people are being shortsighted. It’s not about enforcement… entirely. This law needs to be passed FIRST in order to pave the way for cell phone companies, car manufacturers, and app developers to work in tandem and develop a way to prohibit the action. The car is in gear – texts get sent to voicemail – and with an app like Google Voice, this is not farfetched.
Soccer12
June 21st, 2010
11:42 am
I agree with everyone who said take some personal responsibility. Teach your kids not to text while driving and make sure you set a good example by not texting while driving. I also agree that there are a million and one distractions out there and there will only continue to be more distractions. We can’t pass a law every time a new gadget comes out because we don’t have enough self control to do the right thing and be safe. As others have also stated, if you suspect someone of texting while driving this would fall under reckless driving. All you have to do is pull a cell phone record and you can still hold that person accountable for their actions without another law being passed.