Friday, June 29, 2007
Phone law is the talk of teens
Starting Sunday, young drivers can face fines for chatting on their cellphones at the wheel.
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She can't help it. Every time she drives, Jasmine Noel talks on her cellphone and sends text messages.
The 17-year-old Roanoker tries keeping it to a minimum, mostly just talking to her mom ... or her boyfriend ... or her dad.
She's not bored, just practicing a phrase invented by workaholics before her: "multi-tasking."
Some people, she explained, don't know how to do that. Jasmine does not consider herself one of those people, calling herself a "very cautious driver."
"Who doesn't do it?" she said. "You got a cellphone, you're going to use it."
But starting Sunday, the temptation to drive and dial could leave teens such as Jasmine with a ticket.
Virginia will join 13 other states and the District of Columbia in banning drivers younger than 18 from using cellphones. That means no talking, no texting and no taking pictures. Even no hands-free devices.
Because the ban is a secondary offense, officers can't pull over teens just for being on the phone. But if a teen is stopped for something else -- speeding, for instance -- the teen can also be fined for the phone.
Convictions can cost up to $250. A second offense can lead to a license being suspended for up to six months.
Those who favor the ban feel it has potential to save lives. And while Roanoke Valley teens agree the idea is well-meaning, many feel it's unfair to target a certain age group. Even chitchatting adults, they say, can get distracted while driving.
Because the law is a secondary offense, many young adults also wonder if the ban will have much impact on teens' phone habits.
"I think people would be more scared if it was a first offense," said Taylor Ferguson, a 16-year-old enrolled in driver's education this summer. "A second offense is pretty intense, too. You got to watch what you're doing."
Meanwhile, teens such as Jessica Hannon, a 17-year-old Patrick Henry High School graduate, say the law should apply to everyone.
"It doesn't matter your age," said Jessica, who makes calls when she's stopped at a red light but doesn't text because her mother won't pay for the service. "You can be any age and get in a wreck because you are on the phone."
Yet on the road, statistics say teens are most at risk. According to AAA, car crashes are the leading cause of death among 16- to 19-year-olds. The age group's per-mile fatality rate is four times that of adults.
Research also shows teens and phones can be dangerous. A 2005 study by two University of Utah professors concluded that talking while driving turned the average 20-year-old's response time into that of a 70-year-old. Ford Motor Co. research says teens are four times more distracted than adult drivers while using cellphones.
Virginia's new law was introduced by state Sen. Jay O'Brien, R-Fairfax County. For three years, he tried pushing the ban through the General Assembly before the bill overwhelmingly passed both chambers, 86-10 in the House and 36-3 in the Senate (members of the Western Virginia delegation in the minority were Dels. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, Onzlee Ware, D-Roanoke, Terry Kilgore, R-Scott County, and Sens. Charles Hawkins, R-Chatham, and William Wampler, R-Bristol).
O'Brien, the father of four teenagers, said the ban is "even more compelling now" because text messaging has created another distraction for tech-savvy teens.
The phone ban is the latest in a list of regulations for the state's young drivers, who carry provisional licenses until age 18. In Virginia, provisional license holders may not drive between midnight and 4 a.m.; or for the first year, have more than one passenger younger than 18. As for the phone ban, the only exception is during emergencies.
Those who fought for the law, such as Martha Meade, manager of public and government affairs for AAA Mid-Atlantic, said the ban is not aimed at ticketing countless teens, but rather, providing a deterrent. She says the law will give parents oomph when warning kids not to use the phone.
"We know that distracted driving is a serious problem," she said. "Why would we give them keys to a car ... and then allow them to talk on a phone or text message?"
Paul Barnard is also in favor of the law. As a driver education teacher for 35 years at Roanoke County's William Byrd High, he knows how teens act on the road. Even without phones, there are distractions -- fellow teenagers in the car, food, sodas, the radio.
The problem with the law, he predicts, will be enforcement.
"You've got a law, but you can't enforce it unless you're doing something else," he said.
However, some teens already police the phone. Kathlyn Sowers, who just got her license at age 17, said answering text messages in the car is tempting, but too scary. She's even nervous when riding with friends who text. Not long ago, while traveling home from a North Carolina beach, her friend behind the wheel kept texting people in Roanoke, letting them know where they were on unfamiliar stretches of highway.
"I was like, 'Um, maybe you shouldn't be texting right now,' " Kathlyn told her friend.
As a solution, Kathlyn was handed the phone while the driver dictated messages.
Because talking and texting is as ingrained in their lives as reality TV and iPods, Kathlyn doubts the law will change many teens' behavior.
But young drivers such as 17-year-old Natalie Blanton of Roanoke are willing to try.
"I'll probably wait till I'm stopped at a light now to call them back," she said before pausing, then giggling. "We'll see."
Staff writer Michael Sluss contributed to this report.
