We’ve all been there: As traffic slows and impatience sets in, the temptation to grab the phone to catch up on e-mail or send a quick text is hard to resist. As more than a million Massachusetts drivers prepare to hit the roads this July Fourth weekend, when Americans are expected to help set a new national record for holiday travel, it’s high time for the Legislature to address distracted driving.
Data for 2016 show a worrisome13 percent rise in deaths from car crashes in Massachusetts compared with the year prior, according to a report by the National Safety Council. That’s after years of consistent declines in fatalities. Most experts point to distracted driving as the main cause. Studies at UMass Amherst have shown that texting and driving increases a chance of accidents twenty-fold. Like drunk drivers, distracted drivers are a danger not just to themselves, but to everyone else on the road.
If we can’t control our addictions to our phones, then tougher laws are called for. The existing law, while well intentioned, has proved inadequate. The 2010 law banned writing or reading any electronic messages on a handheld device while operating a vehicle but also allowed for adjusting your GPS or making a handheld phone call. That loophole has made the law difficult to enforce.If stopped by an officer, motorists could justclaim they lost their way and were only trying to fire up Waze. A year after the law took effect, only about 1,100 Massachusetts drivers were ticketed for texting behind the wheel. Last year, the number of citations went up to 8,600.
The stateSenate just passedlegislation that would prohibit all use of handheld devices while driving, except in emergency situations — meaning, no touching or holding a smartphone. Drivers would only be able to make calls on hands-free mode (for example, using a Bluetooth device or speakerphone). Any violations would carry a fine of $100 for a first offense, $250 for a ssecond, and $500 for a third or subsequent ticket, when it would become a surchargeable incident. The Senate passed such a bill previously, but it stalled in the House; hopefully, this year Speaker Robert DeLeo will make the bill a priority.
After all, laws against drunk driving didn’t end all drunk driving, but they did help change social behavior and norms. The same approach is called for to stem distracted driving.
Over time, technology can also help mitigate the danger. Some electronic devices already have an opt-in feature that blocks their use while driving, deploying technology that detects when the phone’s user is the driver. Self-driving cars, should they become a reality, would be the ultimate protection against distracted driving by error-prone human operators. In the meantime, the state needs to do what it can to change the dangerous habits of too many motorists.
