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Only three texting-while-driving citations were generated in Warren Municipal Court so far in 2014
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
During 2014, the municipal court that handles traffic offenses for Warren, Howland, Champion and Warren Township has handled only three texting-while-driving citations.
Traci Timko, assistant Warren law director, said that’s most likely because it’s difficult under Ohio’s law for police officers to detect violations.
“There are times when you pull someone over and they admit to doing it,” Timko said. And there are times when an officer pulls up beside someone stopped at a traffic light and sees someone texting.
“It’s not illegal to make a phone call, so are they calling or texting?” Timko said.
Law enforcement has no right to check the phone to determine whether the person was texting, she added.
“We have no right to check your phone without a search warrant,” she said. “So are officers going to go to that level for a minor misdemeanor offense?”
Furthermore, Ohio’s law — one of only five like it in the nation — is written to make texting while driving a secondary offense for adults, meaning officers cannot make a traffic stop for someone 18 or older because they spot them texting.
If the officer has another reason for making the traffic stop, that adult can be written a ticket for texting, she said.
Drivers younger than 18 can be pulled over and cited for texting or using an electronic device while driving.
In one of the three instances in which a texting-while-driving citation was written, the driver crashed into a utility pole while texting.
The woman, 26, of Warren, was southbound on Tod Avenue Northwest and “lost control of the vehicle while texting,” according to police. She also was cited for driving under suspension.
She pleaded no contest to the texting-while-driving citation and the driving under suspension was dismissed.
An 18-year-old Girard woman was cited for texting while driving on Washington Street Northwest because a Warren police officer said she was blocking traffic at Washington and North Park Avenue.
The officer wrote that the woman was “looking down texting on her phone when stopped. She advised she was communicating/texting with family about something.” The woman pleaded guilty or no contest.
A 24-year-old Warren man was cited for texting while driving on Youngstown Road near Central Parkway, a Warren police officer wrote on the man’s ticket.
“He was seen holding a cellphone in his right hand and operating it with his thumb. He was doing this for more than a couple blocks,” the officer wrote.
In the second and third instances, it’s not clear whether the defendant was pulled over only for the texting while driving or whether there was another reason for the traffic stop, Timko said.
In both cases, the driver did not challenge the ticket, so the judge was not called upon to determine whether the citation was warranted.