Think long and hard about that second drink

Beginning yesterday, the State of Utah has enacted the strictest drunk driving laws in the country. From this day forward, anyone who causes the death of another by operating their car in a negligent manner with a blood alcohol concentration of .05 or higher will be charged with felony vehicular manslaughter.

Now I'm not going to sit here and tell you that it's okay to get drunk and go driving around town. I think that is something that we can all agree is a bad thing to do. But I do think we need to think of the consequences of lowering BAC levels and ramping up punishments.

If we look at things in a vacuum then we know that someone with any alcohol in their system is going to be impaired to one degree or another. But then we need to look at some other factors. What about the person talking on their cell phone or texting or tweeting or fiddling with the radio or talking with a passenger? What about that driver who is driving on very little sleep and is having trouble keeping their eyes open?

Distracted driving is far more prevalent that drunk driving in this country. And we see it every day on the highway or on the streets.

An alcohol concentration of .05 can be achieved by as little as two glasses or wine or two drinks with dinner. For most folks that's not even enough to get a buzz. Do you really want to move toward lowering the legal limit to that range?

Think of the number of folks you see running red lights, driving too fast, moving in and out of lanes, swerving and driving the wrong way during daylight hours. Do you really believe that each and every one of those folks are intoxicated?  But if those folks cause a fatality accident, they won't be subject to nearly the harsh punishment that a person who had two glasses of wine in his system would be.

And that just isn't right. It's an example of politicians picking the low-hanging fruit while looking for an issue to run on. Not everyone lives in a major city with public transportation options or Uber or the like. Not everyone reacts to alcohol in the same manner. We all know folks who are done for the evening after their second drink. But should everyone be judged on the same scale?

Finally, do we really need to look for new ways to charge folks with felony offenses? Are we trying to put more folks under government supervision?

The current batch of pseudo-scientific roadside exercises were devised back when the per se limit in most states was .10. NHTSA then declared - without conducting new research that the tests were good at predicting who had a BAC of greater than .08. What's the game now, Utah? If someone passes the tests are you then going to require a test to determine if their BAC is .05 or greater? If so, why even bother using the roadside exercises in the first place?

Yes, there are horrific accidents every day across this country caused by drivers who are well above the legal limit. Those are the cases that appear on the news. It's important to remember, however, that the vast majority of DWI arrests are based on speeding, failing to signal a lane change, weaving and other minor traffic offenses.

Utah's new DWI law is but the latest example of a solution searching for a problem.

Feds call for ban on cell phone use

In the wake of a deadly accident involving two school buses, a pickup truck and a tractor-trailer in Missouri last year, the National Transportation Safety Board has called for a ban on the use of cell phones by drivers. The ban would affect both hand-held and hands-free phones and is more stringent than most state bans on the use of electronic devices while driving.

In the last few years the board has investigated a commuter rail accident that killed 25 people in California in which the train engineer was texting; a fatal marine accident in Philadelphia in which a tugboat pilot was talking on his cellphone and using a laptop; and a Northwest Airlines flight that flew more than 100 miles past its destination because both pilots were working on their laptops.

It's probably not a bad idea. My wife likes to tell me that women can multitask while men can't (I then respond that I'd rather be doing one thing well than a bunch of things half-assed, but that's a discussion for another day). The truth of the matter is that there is more than enough stuff in a car to distract us from the task at hand. Whether it be adjusting the radio or CD player, checking out the GPS, turning the a/c up, adjusting the side mirrors, shifting gears, talking to your passenger or trying to keep the kids in the back seat from killing each other, it's hard to keep your focus on the road in front of you. And then you have to keep an eye on the other motorists, watch out for people coming out of parking lots and look to see what color the traffic light is.

All it takes is a split second for your pleasant afternoon drive to turn into a nightmare - and that's without any alcohol being added to the mix.

While I don't think this is a matter for los federales, it is an issue that should be considered by the states. To date, 35 states have banned (to some degree) texting while driving. Now whether that includes updating your Facebook status or tweeting, I don't know.

According to the NTSB, about 1 in 100 drivers is texting, surfing the internet or otherwise using an electronic device while driving. They know this because they stake out intersections and count the number of drivers using their phones while driving.

So, be careful out there and leave the phone in the seat unless it's an emergency.

Now let's see what the Mythbusters discovered when they compared distracted driving with drunk driving...

Part One: Control



Part Two: Distracted driving



Part Three: Drunk driving

Bill to ban texting while driving on cusp of passage

State Representative Tom Craddick (R-Midland) has proposed legislation (HB243) that would ban drivers in Texas from sending or reading text-based messages while driving. The measure passed 124-16 in a preliminary vote and will go before the House for formal approval today. Should it pass, the companion bill in the Senate will take up the matter.

Supporters of the bill argue that banning texting while driving will make roads safer as there will be one less distraction for drivers to deal with. Opponents cited privacy concerns as a reason for voting against the proposed legislation. In response to critics who raised questions about privacy rights, Rep. Craddick answered:

"Driving is not a right. Driving is a responsibility and a privilege."

While that is what the courts have ruled, motorists are still afforded their Fourth Amendment rights to be free of unreasonable search and seizure while driving a car. Calling something a privilege does not give the government carte blanche to do as it wishes.

But more interesting that Rep. Craddick's parsing of rights and privileges is another statement attributed to him by the Houston Chronicle:

Citing research, Craddick said texting while driving is 20 times more dangerous than drunk driving.

I don't know to what research Mr. Craddick is citing but I think he's right that texting while driving is more dangerous than drunk driving. Let's think about it for a second. Most drunk driving incidents occur after dark when there are fewer people on the roads. During the day roads are jammed and if you take a look around you'll see plenty of drivers on their cell phones.

According to the House Research Organization:

CSHB 243 would promote driver safety by prohibiting drivers from texting, instant messaging, or e-mailing. Texting may not be the only distraction while driving, but it is one of the most dangerous. The bill would introduce a commonsense safety law that would help deter this dangerous behavior.  

Accumulating research resoundingly concludes that texting while driving distracts drivers and increases response times to sudden traffic incidents. Like drunk driving, driving while texting has injured and killed drivers, passengers, and innocent bystanders. 

And what punishment will the state mete out for violators who endanger their fellow Texans by reading and sending text messages while driving? What will these motorists who are more dangerous than drunk drivers get when they step in front of a judge?

Jail time? No. Probation? No.

It'll be a Class C misdemeanor with a $200 fine.

That's right. For committing a crime that, according to the bill's author, is twenty times more dangerous than driving while intoxicated, you'll get a traffic ticket with a maximum fine of $200. Go to the window, ask for a deferred, pay a fine and it'll be dismissed in 90 days.

Galveston to ban driving while texting

Well it certainly didn't take Galveston long to ban motorists from texting while driving. The island city made it a Class C misdemeanor to the use "wireless communication devices to view, send or compose an electronic message" while driving. Of course that does lead to the question "What is driving?"

Violators will be subject to a fine of up to $500.

The new ordinance will go into effect ten days after publication in the local paper (approximately January 27, 2010) which should be this Sunday.

See also:

"New advocacy group seeks to ban cell phone use when driving" The Defense Rests (Jan. 13, 2010)

New advocacy group seeks to ban cell phone use while driving

A new advocacy group has formed preaching the evils of talking on cell phones and texting while driving. FocusDriven was born in Grapevine, Texas where a mother lost her daughter due to an accident with a distracted driver.

The group appears to be following MADD's successful blueprint by creating awareness, pushing for legislation and supporting victims.

I would look for a push to create more "cell-free" zones in the next year. We may also begin to see prosecutors issuing subpoenas to cell phone providers to determine if someone was using their phone at the time of any fatality accidents.

See also:

"FocusDriven launch draws nation's attention to distracted driving epidemic" Welcome to the Fast Lane (Jan. 13, 2010)

"Grapevine woman's MADD-like group fights distracted driving" Dallas Morning News (Jan. 13, 2010)

"DWT is more dangerous than DWI" The Defense Rests (Dec. 22, 2009)

Distraction.gov (Official US Government website for distracted driving