• The state law must make a violation a primary offense, which means that police can pull over a driver without any other moving violation.
• Requires a minimum fine for first and increased penalties for subsequent violations.
• Civil and criminal penalties to a driver who causes an accident due to cell phone use.
• The subject of distracted driving must be added to the state’s driver’s license exam.

Some exceptions include calling 911, use by emergency personnel, and using the phone in a parked vehicle.
 
The money for the grants will not involve an additional financial burden as it will come from redirecting unused surpluses from the seat-belt safety program. Once states enact these laws, they can then apply for the funds to use in driver education programs on the dangers of distracted driving and for other projects that improve traffic safety. This program will model the already successful drunk driving and “click it or ticket” seat-belt campaigns.
 
Additional provisions of the bill include a national driver distraction education program run by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and further research, data, and reporting of accidents by police.
 
The second bill, titled the ALERT Drivers Act of 2009, was introduced by Senator Schumer of New York along with three other Senators, earlier this year. Senator Schumer testified at last week’s Commerce Committee hearing in support of his bill; he is also a cosponsor of Senator Rockefeller’s bill. The ALERT Drivers Act takes a “stick” approach, as opposed to the “carrot” approach of the other bill, by reducing the amount of Federal highway funds available to states that do not enact a law prohibiting drivers from writing, sending, or reading text messages or e-mails while operating a motor vehicle. At the hearing, there was debate among the Senators about whether the “carrot” or the “stick” method is the better way to approach this epidemic.
 
Currently 18 states, plus the District of Columbia, have a law addressing texting-while-driving. Use of cell phones by novice drivers is restricted in 21 states and the District of Columbia, and seven states, plus the District of Columbia have statewide hand-held driving bans. 
 
A 2008 government study noted that in any given moment there are 812,000 distracted drivers on the road. This bill aims to make sure that their lives, as well as their passengers and everyone else on the road, are not at risk.
 
—Liza Barth 

For more information on distracted driving see our related reports:
Hands-free cell phone laws: Are they effective?
Distracted driving summit: The highlights