Atkins leads push to toughen cell-phone rules for drivers

By Matt Murphy mmurphy@lowellsun.com

Updated: 05/27/2009 06:35:40 AM EDT

Cory Atkins … “time to take action”

BOSTON — A group of state lawmakers is urging immediate action to ban the use of hand-held cell phones while driving after an MBTA driver crashed a Green Line trolley while sending a text message.

The lawmakers, led by Rep. Cory Atkins, D-Concord, cited the May 8 MBTA accident as proof of why the Legislature must act quickly to prevent future accidents.

“The time is now for Massachusetts to take action,” reads a letter sent from Atkins’ office on Friday to Rep. Joseph Wagoner, D-Chicopee, and Sen. Steven Baddour, D-Methuen, the co-chairmen of the Committee on Transportation.

The letter was co-signed by 12 other legislators. A legislative hearing has been scheduled tentatively for June 4.

“I don’t think we’re going to stop all cell-phone usage and I wouldn’t advocate that, but there are safer ways to do it. And texting is just bananas,” said Atkins, who supports legislation that would require drivers to use a hands-free device to operate a cell phone while driving.

The Senate last week adopted language in its budget proposal that would prohibit all drivers from sending text messages or using cell phones to access the Internet while driving.

Operators of public-transportation vehicles, such as buses or trains, would face a $500 fine, while private drivers risk a $75 fine and a surcharge on their insurance.

Atkins supports the texting ban, but says it does not go far enough.

“How do you know they’re not doing it if they have (a cell phone) in their hands? The only way to stop texting is to get it out of their hands,” she said.

The debate over whether to restrict the use of cell phones while driving has been raging on Beacon Hill for more than seven years, with the House passing a bill last session that would have required hands-free devices only to see that measure blocked in the Senate.

Atkins blamed Baddour for killing the bill. Baddour, who admits to talking on his cell phone while driving, has argued that you can’t “legislate against stupidity.”

Baddour supports the texting ban, but still stands opposed to restricting the use of cell phones for talking.

“The argument that I make is that the distraction causes the problem, not the holding of the phone. People can drive and talk on their cell phone. I don’t care how good you are. You can’t text and drive,” Baddour said.

Wagoner supports an all-out ban on hand-held mobile devices, but said he would prefer to see the full House debate the measure rather than include it in the budget. Baddour said he would support removing the issue from the budget and having a full debate on the legislation.

Twelve states and the District of Columbia have already enacted laws prohibiting all drivers from texting while driving, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Only six, including New York and Connecticut, ban the use of cell phones while driving without a hands-free device.

The letter from Atkins points to a National Highway Safety Commission report that found cell-phone use and texting to be the leading cause of accidents in the country behind drunk driving.

Ayer resident Peter Johnston, 81, said he would be the “happiest man in the world if they passed a bill.”

Johnston first worked with Rep. Robert Hargraves, R-Groton, in 2003 to pass a ban after a motorist reaching for a cell phone struck Johnston as he crossed the street in Ayer.

He spent eight weeks shuttling between the hospital and a rehabilitation facility and had to go through daily physical therapy after the accident left him with pins in his arm and leg and a metal plate in his hip.

“I am frustrated every time I hear them talk about it and do nothing about it. I’m one of the lucky ones. I’m alive,” Johnston said.

“You can stand on any street corner in the town of Ayer in the morning and I would dare say three of out of every five cars that pass you, they’re talking on their cell phone,” he added. “They’re not paying attention to their driving.”

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