Ineffective state laws abound
COLUMBUS
There are plenty of laws on the books here in Ohio that people ignore on a regular basis.
Just drive down the road the next time it’s raining in the middle of the day and count the number of cars without illuminated headlights.
Statehouse dwellers often offer legislation to tackle such ineffective laws.
Sometimes, they seek to strengthen Ohio Revised Code to increase penalties against lawbreakers, hoping the sanctions will serve as a deterrent to the behavior. Other times, they try to eliminate the law altogether, saying it’s proven unnecessary.
There were good examples of both responses over the past week in the state Legislature, with one bill focused on texting while driving and another on backyard fireworks.
Texting
As I’ve stated in this space multiple times, Ohio’s texting-while-driving ban is a joke. Few people take it seriously. Every day, I have to dodge around knuckleheads staring at their handheld electronic screens instead of the road.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way. The use of handheld electronic communications devices technically is prohibited under law.
For adults, it’s a secondary offense, meaning officers can’t stop and cite offenders unless they’ve broken some other traffic law.
For teens, it’s a primary offense and can result in suspended licenses. Judging by the number of punk kids on the roads in central Ohio with heads tilted down toward their laps, the law is not being adequately enforced.
Rep. Rex Damschroder, R-Fremont, told a House committee last week that it’s time to make texting while driving a primary offense for everyone.
His HB 637 would ban the use of electronic devices in school and construction zones and change state law so that officers could crack down on anyone texting behind the wheel of a moving vehicle.
“By making this needed change in Ohio, we can assist law enforcement by giving them the proper tools to enforce the law,” he said in testimony submitted to the House’s Transportation, Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee. “...We need to add Ohio to the majority of states that classify texting while driving as a primary offense.”
Fireworks
On the flipside of the lawmaker response spectrum, Sen. Dave Burke, R-Marysville, wants to reverse Ohio’s ban on consumer-grade fireworks, rightly noting before the chamber’s Commerce and Labor Committee that the existing ban on such products “is largely ignored.”
Under current law, firecrackers, bottle rockets, Roman candles and other fireworks can be purchased in Ohio by anyone 18 or older, but they cannot be used in the state. Instead, they must be taken over the state’s borders within 48 hours of purchase. The illegal possession or discharge of such fireworks can result in a $1,000 fine and up to six months in jail.
Novelties, including sparklers, snakes, smoke bombs and snaps, are legal for backyard use.
The law is a joke. Drive around any neighborhood or rural area around the Fourth of July and you’ll hear plenty of pops, whistles and other telltale signs of illegal fireworks being used.
Health advocates say all types of fireworks are dangerous and cause injuries and sometimes death. Burke counters that while fireworks use has risen in recent decades, fireworks-related injuries have actually declined.
His SB 386 would legalize consumer-grade fireworks, require sellers to provide safety glasses and state-written safety pamphlets to purchasers and add a 6 percent fee on fireworks to pay for additional firefighter training and enforcement.
“These changes will help ensure that the safest products will be used, strengthen enforcement on violators of the law, educate consumers and ultimately result in a much more safe and happy Fourth of July in 2015,” Burke said.
Marc Kovac is The Vindicator’s Statehouse correspondent. Email him at mkovac@dixcom.com or on Twitter at OhioCapitalBlog.