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A matter of life or death?

Mar 4, 2010 | LISA CURTIS | GM Today Staff

CEDARBURG - Insurance studies have shown people are four times more likely to become involved in a car crash if they’re talking on a cell phone while driving.

But that doesn’t mean motorists like Marty Petitjean believe there needs to be new penalties for drivers who cause a crash while talking on the phone.

"I would be against it," said Petitjean of Mequon. "It seems too automatic to assume you are at fault if you’re in an accident."

But that is exactly the idea behind a bill in the Wisconsin State Assembly.

The bill, introduced by Rep. Carol Owens, R-Oshkosh, creates a presumption that cell phones are to blame in accidents caused by drivers using them during a mishap. The bill also attaches penalties ranging from a $300 fine if the accident didn’t cause any injuries to fines of up to $10,000 if accidents result in a deaths. Furthermore it would would also require cell phone dealers to provide written warnings informing buyers that cell phone use while driving could be hazardous.

Owens said she was motivated to introduce the bill by a constituent in her district who was almost killed by a driver on a cell phone.

"I’ve had several encounters myself with people talking on the cell phone," Owens said. "People are fed up with them in some instances."

Glendale recently passed a similar ordinance that puts the burden on phone users involved in a crash to prove that talking on the cell didn’t cause the accident.

"In this case you’re guilty until you can prove you’re innocent," said Glendale police officer Carrie Doss.

But the idea has failed to gain much support from fellow legislators or from some public safety officials.

Cedarburg Police Chief Tom Frank said if a person is distracted by the cell phone, he or she is likely distracted by other things in the car.

"I think it has more to do with the type of driver that the person is and not cell phones," Frank said. "People who are easily distracted by talking on a cell phone will be easily distracted while talking to people in the car or adjusting the radio."

The bill also lacks support from an Ozaukee County legislator who sits on the transportation committee, which must first approve the bill before it can move on in the full Assembly. State Rep. Mark Gottlieb said there is already a law that prohibits inattentive driving, one in which the Wisconsin State Patrol cites about 9,600 drivers for a year.

Gottlieb said it also would be difficult to prove whether cell phone use was the cause.

"I don’t think it’s something I would be inclined to support," Gottlieb said Wednesday.

Owens said she is not proposing an all-out ban on cell phone use by drivers. Not only would she not have the votes in the Legislature, she said, but cell phones are useful tools for people who travel.

An insurance industry official said bills such as Owens’ are important because risks created by cell phones and other distractions are just too great.

"Unless you’re a firefighter or a miner or a soldier fighting in a war, driving is the most dangerous experience you can do during the day," said Dave Snyder, vice president and assistant general counsel of the American Insurance Association in Washington, D.C. "To think you can divide your attention between the two is foolish. There’s something really final that can happen in a such a situation."