Legislation aims to ban texting while driving throughout Ohio

A Youngstown legislator says it’s ridiculous to try to send a text while driving.

By Marc Kovac

COLUMBUS — A state lawmaker has introduced legislation that would ban sending electronic text messages or talking on cell phones while driving.

Rep. Michael DeBose, a Democrat from the Cleveland area, introduced separate bills on the issue. The first would ban typing on mobile communications devices, while the second goes a step further — it also would prohibit talking on such devices while driving.

Both would be categorized as secondary offenses, meaning law enforcement couldn’t pull violators over for breaking the law, but they could be cited if caught breaking other traffic laws.

The legislation comes on the heels of a recent study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute that found that truck drivers were 23.2 times as likely to have an accident or near-accident when sending text messages on the road.

According to the study, “[T]ext messaging … also had the longest duration of eyes off road time (4.6 seconds over a 6-second interval). This equates to a driver traveling the length of a football field at 55 mph without looking at the roadway.”

Senate President Bill Harris, a Republican from Ashland, said he fully supports the texting-while- driving ban and expects comparable legislation to be introduced in his chamber in coming months.

“It’s not a good idea to be sending text messages when driving,” he said, adding, “When they look down at that keyboard to see what the text is, I think it just creates a terrible opportunity for disastrous accidents. It’s a shame that we have to pass a law to influence people to use common sense.”

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Robert Hagan of Youngstown, D-60th, says it’s ridiculous to even try to send a text while driving. Hagan says a ban of some sort seems like a reasonable idea.

CONTRIBUTOR: The Associated Press