Today, Thursday, June 10 Washington’s new texting while driving law–’Text Talk Ticket’–went into effect. Under this new law police officers will be able to pull over anyone they see holding a cell phone to their ear or texting while behind the wheel, and slap them with a $124 fine (could be more if the distraction causes an accident). The law also restricts teens with intermediate licenses or learners permits from using a cell phone at all while driving, even with a wireless device, unless they are calling to report an emergency.
This law is the culmination of years of work by supporters, including 36th District Rep and Queen Anne resident Reuven Carlyle, who has been pushing to make cell phone use while driving a primary offense for some time. Perhaps the youngest supporter was Coe Elementary 5th grader Noah Sarkowsky, who recently traveled to Olympia to share his experiences as a school crossing guard and help pass the bill.
I spoke with Noah’s mother, Stacy Lawson, about her son’s experiences. She said Noah frequently witnessed drivers by Coe who seemed more interested in their phones than the children around them.
“Noah had had many stories about what happened when people were texting or talking on their phone while dropping their kids off or driving by the school,” Stacy said. “Five seconds looking down on your phone increases the chance of an accident.”
Community member and former speechwriter for President Clinton, Lowell Weiss of Cascade Philanthropy Advisors, got involved in the campaign this last year, and suggested that Noah bring his testimony to Olympia.
“I am a daily bike commuter, and I also bike with my son to Coe every morning. I finally got fed up with all the people I saw paying more attention to their phones than to the road or us,” Weiss wrote. “My day job is helping donors turn their passion into effective action. And yet for years I had a passion around the cellphone-driving issue and was doing no more than shouting into the wind. Last summer I finally decided to use my day-job skills to try to make a difference.”
After being referred to an article about a school crossing guard’s eye witnesses experiences and her subsequent perspective on the dangers of cellphone driving by the head of pediatrics at Harborview Medical Center, Dr. Brian Johnston, Weiss decided to reach out to Noah and see if he had any similar stories.
“Dr. Johnston asked whether I could find someone like that here in Seattle. I immediately though of Noah, who is the brother of one of my son’s good friends. I called Noah and asked him whether he had had any bad experiences with distracted drivers. He told me he had almost been hit right in front of Coe. Noah and Stacy were eager to help this cause. So I drove down to Olympia with Noah, and he did a wonderful job!” Weiss wrote.
“He spoke before the house and the senate, and there was one senator in particular who’s name I can’t remember at this moment, changed his mind because of Noah’s testimony. He had never made the connection between a school child and this issue,” Lawson said. “It all happened at the right time, and finally, they decided to push it through.”
“I could tell that his testimony resonated with many representatives and senators. Noah did a great public service!” Weiss wrote.
Still Weiss clarifies that the point of this law is not to encourage drivers to use hands-free devices like Bluetooth headsets. “The evidence shows that Bluetooth and other wireless devices are just as dangerous as handheld phones. The real message is: “Park your Phone!” Weiss wrote.
See a fact sheet on the dangers of cell phone driving put together by the Driven to Distractions Task Force here (.pdf). Read a Q&A about the law with supporters Sen. Tracy Eide and Rep. Reuven Carlyle here (.pdf). Click here for more information on the new law, and tell us what you think: are you for the new policy?