PHOENIX β By a 2-1 margin the state Senate on Monday approved what would be Arizonaβs first-ever statewide ban on texting while driving.
SB 1165 would do more than make it illegal for motorists to send and receive messages on their cellphones unless they pulled over or were at a stop light. It also would forbid handling the phone outright to take calls while driving, requiring the use of a hands-free device.
Mondayβs 20-10 vote still does not guarantee that Arizona will join 47 other states that already have such a ban. SB 1165 still needs approval of the House, which has generally been less sympathetic to such broad prohibitions.
If it clears there, however, Gov. Doug Ducey has said he will sign a texting-while-driving ban if it gets to his desk.
Until now the laws on the use of cell phones has applied solely to those who have a learnerβs permit or are younger than 18 and have been licensed for less than six months. And it took until 2017 for state lawmakers to approve even that.
One change that may have helped secure votes this year was the death of Clayton Townsend. The five-year veteran of the Salt River Police Department was struck and killed in January by a motorist who admitted to texting at the time.
But Sen. Sylvia Allen, R-Snowflake, said the system to handle distracted drivers works the way it should.
βPeople must be personally responsible for what they do,β she said. βAnd if they cause an accident, whether it is from texting or any other distraction thatβs going on in that car, they will be held responsible and should be held responsible.β
And Sen. Eddie Farnsworth, R-Gilbert, said itβs wrong to have a law that focuses on a device rather than the question of whether the actions create a hazard.
βIf weβre going to go down this path we ought to deal with distractions in their totality, with some evidence that it is impairing driving,β he said. By contrast, Farnsworth said, SB 1165 makes it illegal to simply hold a phone, no matter what.
βIf I put it to the side and it falls on the floor under my feet, I canβt legally even pick it up,β he said. βThat makes no sense to me.β
But Sen. Kate Brophy McGee, R-Phoenix, who has been shepherding this yearβs version, said there needs to be a focus on the specific problem of motorists whose attention is drawn away from the road because theyβre dialing the phone or sending a text.
βItβs actually a public health crisis,β she said, comparing it to the efforts of prior decades where lawmakers got serious about impaired driving and cracked down with stricter penalties and lower blood-alcohol limits. βItβs the DUI issue of our time.β
The vote also comes on the heels of Tempe becoming the latest community to enact its own distracted driving laws, bringing the number to 28, including Pima County and the city of Tucson. Senate President Karen Fann, R-Prescott, said having a statewide statute controlling the issue will ensure that all motorists know what is and is not legal, no matter where theyβre driving.
Brophy McGee added provisions designed to blunt criticism.
Motorists could still chat and text with their hand-held phones if theyβre stopped at a traffic light or pulled over and parked.
Thereβs also a lot of time for drivers to get to know the new rules of the road, with the law not taking effect until 2021, though police could issue warnings until then. And at that time a first violation would carry a fine or no more than $149; subsequent offenses will cost offending drivers at least $150 but no more than $250.
A whole different section of SB 1165 makes it illegal for motorists to watch videos or movies on a cell phone or tablet, though they would be able to use a navigation program. And recording or broadcasting a video also would become illegal unless the cameras was set up to continuously record or broadcast without operator intervention.
