Posted: 6:28 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012

Ohio texting ban for drivers starts Friday

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People who text or fiddle with other hand-held electronic devices while driving anywhere in Ohio will be breaking the law beginning Friday, Aug. 31, 2012.

By Thomas Gnau

Staff Writer

Ohio’s statewide texting-while-driving ban takes effect today, but drivers won’t be cited during the first six months.

Police will issue warnings to drivers caught texting until March 1. After that, adult drivers can be charged with a misdemeanor and fined $150.

The law is tougher on teen drivers. Those under age 18 are barred from using any kind of electronic communication device while behind the wheel of a car or truck, regardless whether its moving or stopped. First-time offenders face a $150 fine and a 60-day license suspension after the warning period ends. Repeat offenders under 18 can be fined $300 and have their license taken away for a year.

Another distinction is that adults must be seen violating another law before they can be stopped and cited for texting while driving. It’s the opposite for minors. Police can pull them over just for using an electronic device while driving.

Traffic safety advocates welcomed the new law.

Miami Twp. police Maj. John DiPietro said the law serves as a stern warning for younger drivers. He likened driving while distracted to driving while intoxicated.

Cindy Antrican, spokeswoman for the Miami Valley AAA, said vehicles at highway speeds can travel the length of a footfall field in the time a driver simply looks down at a cell phone or iPod. Add the time needed to actually read and take in a text message, a vehicle may go further.

Antrican compared that moment to driving while blindfolded.

AAA supported making texting while driving a primary offense for both minors and adults, Antrican said, “but this is a start.”

A recent survey by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that 35 percent of drivers admitted to texting behind the wheel, and almost half of motorists age 18 to 24 admitted to it. In 2010, more than 3,000 people in the U.S. died in crashes involving a distracted driver, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Admininstration.

Some police officers have said similar municipal texting bans have been difficult to enforce. Antrican recalled the cultural shift needed to get motorists and passengers to regularly connect their seat belts before driving.

“The law enforcement community found a way to enforce that law,” she said.

Texting is just one dangerous distraction, DiPietro said. He said he has seen dogs sitting on drivers’ laps, lunches being consumed on the interstate and drivers struggling to steady steering wheels — with their knees.

“When there are so many distractions in the vehicle, that’s when bad things happen,” DiPietro said.

But the new law has its detractors, too. State Rep. Jim Buchy, R-Greenville, did not support it.

“It’s just another government (rule) looking over our shoulder, trying to be responsible for us, when we should be responsible for our own actions.”

Buchy hopes the law will serve as a deterrent, but he doubts it will tear younger drivers from their devices, even on the road. “I can tell you from experience that with that age bracket, it’s hard to get them away from the text. That’s going to be difficult to enforce.”

Ohio is the 39th state to ban texting while driving, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association.

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The law prohibits a person under 18 from using an electronic wireless communications device while driving, with three exemptions:

1. Use in an emergency.

2. When the person’s vehicle is stationary and outside a lane of travel.

3. Using a hands-free navigation device, if the person does not manipulate the device while driving.

The law defines “electronic wireless communications devices” as wireless telephones, text-messaging devices, personal digital assistants, laptop or computer tablets, and any other “substantially similar wireless device that is designed or used to communicate text.”

The law does not supercede local laws.

Source: Ohio Legislative Service Commission analysis

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/news/texting-ban-goes-into-effect-today/nRP2k/