Cell-phone driving: Some communities begin cracking down

Distracted driving is dangerous driving, and few would argue that point. 

But with nearby communities cracking down on motorists using cell phones while operating vehicles, Lincoln County might have to take a look at its own attitudes toward driving while distracted.

Whitefish law enforcement cited 114 cell phone violations in 2012, bringing in $14,000 in revenue.

Montana has no state law and Lincoln County has no city or county ordinance in place.

The only structures in place to stop cell-phone use while driving are self-imposed ones by law-enforcement agencies. 

“The County does not have one, but our department does,” said Lincoln County Sheriff Roby Bowe. “We’re trying to get everybody (in the Sheriff’s Department) to use hands-free cell phones. It’s definitely a distraction.”

The current protocol for Lincoln County law-enforcement officers does not involve any sort of citation for cell-phone use while driving. 

Libby Chief of Police Jim Smith said his officers only have to officially record cell usage if the driver is involved in an accident. It gets marked on the official state accident report.

But Smith said he isn’t concerned with cell-phone use until the city passes an ordinance.

“I really haven’t thought about it,” he said. “I’m too busy enforcing the ordinances already on the books.”

Smith might have a point. A recent study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology made the case that cell-phone bans for motorists might not make the roads safer because those drivers tend to have other distractions like eating for putting on makeup..

Those drivers who text and have conversations on the phone while operating a vehicle are far more likely to engage in other risky behaviors and tend to drive at a higher rate of speed. 

Even so, The National Safety Council reported in 2010 that drivers distracted by cell phones annually cause 28 percent of the United States’ traffic accidents, 1.6 million total. 

Missoula was the most recent major city in Montana to enact a ban, putting one in place Dec. 5, 2012.

Troy Chief of Police Bob McLeod uses a hands-free device while he is driving, and would like to see a Troy ordinance in place. 

“There are a lot of accidents caused by (cell phones),” McLeod said. “I’d like to see it as a primary stop.”

A primary stop is a violation an officer can pull a driver over for, like a stop sign violation. A secondary stop is a violation a driver can be cited for only after a primary stop.. 

The officers said an ordinance would be unlikely in the near future in Lincoln County unless the Montana Legislature passed a statewide bill.