Shut up and drive: 2007
Update: The bill passed the Senate J II Committee on a 7-6 vote and is headed to the Senate floor.
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Because I enjoy bills with checkered legislative histories, I've been listening in on the Senate J II committee debate a ban on using hand-held cell phones while driving. (Those of you who use hands-free devices would be in the clear.)
Click here for the bill. And here and here for background.
This bill has been run for a couple sessions now on the House side and has been shot down on every occasion.
In the Senate, Sen. Charlie Dannelly, the deputy Pro Tempore, is running the thing. Dannelly, who is old enough to be my granddad, regularly wanders about the building with a Bluetooth wireless headset on and wore it throughout Tuesday morning's committee debate.
The Committee is expected to vote on the bill today at its 2 p.m. session if a question of liability law can be resolved.
Of local note, Sen. Stan Bingham, who ran the bill last year to ban under-age drivers from using cell phones, opposes the bill for adults. So do Sprint-Nextel and the builders association, because the walkie-talkie function on Nextels can't be accomplished in a hands-free sort of way.
"I almost ran a red light because I was more interested in talking with my wife," said John Snow, a Democrat from Cherokee.
No fewer than three Senators admitted in the committee that they had run off the road or nearly run a red light while fumbling with hand-held cell phones. My early count says the bill will pass narrowly, but stay tuned.