Fines for driving with a cellphone in Washington are going up - and that’s a good thing
It’s impressive how far Washington state leaders have come in acknowledging the serious public safety risks associated with distracted driving.
Likewise, it’s amazing how quickly they’ve turned the corner and found common ground on this issue, agreeing that using a cellphone or other personal electronic device while behind the wheel deserves stiff punishment. For too many years, stubbornness, ignorance and political partisanship prevailed, allowing drivers to call, text, tweet, check Facebook feeds or take selfies with reckless impunity.
My, how the tide has turned. Consider a bill in the Legislature this year that would double the fines for being an e-device traffic scofflaw under certain circumstances. House Bill 1256 cruised through the House with a 97-0 vote last week; it’s now on its way to a similar reception in the Senate.
Was it really just three years ago that legislators dragged their feet for months before passing a law prohibiting the use of any handheld electronic gadget for any reason while driving? That 2017 law, which was far from unanimous, expanded on Washington’s bare-bones ban on texting and making phone calls without a hands-free device in your car.
We’re pleased to see the epiphany among Washington policy makers, and we welcome the harsher penalties they’re in the process of adopting this year.
HB 1256 would double the base penalty for a first-time offense when a driver is caught using a personal communication device in a school, playground or crosswalk speed zone, as long as a “fines double” sign is clearly posted.
With base penalties and fees combined, first-time lawbreakers would be stuck with a $237 infraction — the same as what they now incur for a second or subsequent violation.
Half of all ticket revenue would go into a state account designated for school zone safety improvements.
The increased penalties are sensible because they’d put distracted driving on level with speeding and other traffic offenses; drivers already face doubled fines if they exceed the posted speed limit in a school zone or a construction zone, and since last summer, carpool lane violators also face steeper fines.
“To me if we can’t keep children safe, then nothing else we do in this world is going to matter,” the bill’s chief sponsor, Rep. John Lovick, D-Mill Creek, told the Senate Transportation Committee Tuesday. The bill’s intent, he added, is “not to be punitive but to get people to take about 30 seconds and hang up the phone.”
Actually, the bill does seem quite punitive, which is OK with us. Public safety officers shouldn’t hesitate to enforce it.
If drivers are worried about Washington’s increasingly hard line on cellphone offenses, the solution is simple: Your car is equipped with a glove compartment. Use it.
Anecdotal information suggests that laws targeting those who drive under the influence of electronics may be having an impact. According to observational surveys by the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, cell phones were the source of three quarters of all driver distractions in 2016 and 2017, while a year later they were tied to just over half of distractions.
The change was even more dramatic in Pierce County, where the survey found overall distracted-driving rates fell from 18.4 percent in 2016, to 14.4 percent in 2017, all the way down to 5.8 percent in 2018.
Even so, our own informal daily surveys while driving, walking and biking around the Puget Sound region suggest the problem is far from solved. Lovick certainly agrees.
“I spent almost four decades in law enforcement,” the former Snohomish County sheriff said, “and it’s clear to me that texting and using a cell phone while driving is still a problem.”
The difference now, thank goodness, is that there’s a bipartisan wave of leaders across Washington who agree it’s a problem, and they’re ready to clamp down on it together.
This story was originally published February 27, 2020 at 5:30 AM.