U.S. Transportation Secretary Endorses Stricter Distracted Driving Laws

In the U.S. today, 35 states have enacted distracted driving legislation — 12 in 2010 alone, according to federal statistics — but Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says that's not enough.

USA Today reported recently that LaHood is seeking a federal ban on texting and driving. Jeff Murray — the father of 2-year-old Calli, in a Rohnert Park crosswalk on Dec. 1, 2010 by Kaitlyn Dunaway, the Sonoma State student who has admitted to texting and driving when she ran over Calli and her mother Ling — says that's the fuel this cause needs to move forward.

Murray said that the feds paying attention to distracted driving as an epidemic is "incredible."

"They're also trying to do what we're doing here," Murray said in respose to the article. " With Joe Simitian and now Ray, we've got momentum to move ahead with Calli's Law."

"" is a push started by the Murray family to get policy and lawmakers to classify distracted driving, and specifically talking or texting while driving, as a type of driving under the influence — a move that would carry with it increased fines and possibly jail time.

Currently a first offense is just $20 and a second is $50. Gov. Jerry Brown in September a law , D-Palo Alto, that would have nearly doubled fines for talking on cell phones or texting while driving to $50 for the first violation and $100 for the next, according to bill sponsors. 

After county fees are assessed that cost would have gone from $160 and $180, what the violation currently costs, to about $310 for the first violation, according to officials with the Sonoma County Courthouse traffic division.

"Distracted driving is an epidemic on America's roadways," LaHood said in a statement. "You see it every day — drivers swerving in their lanes, stopping at green lights, running red ones or narrowly missing a pedestrian because they have their eyes and minds on their phones instead of the road. Yet, people continue to assume that they can drive and text or talk at the same time."

He continued: "Every single time you take your eyes off the road or talk on the phone while you're driving, even for just a few seconds, you put yourself and others in danger."

Rohnert Park police, who responded to the fatal accident that killed Calli, that they've taken a more aggressive approach to target people using their phones while driving, but it's also a matter of resources.

Sgt. Jason Krauss, the city's traffic supervisor, said although the department doesn't have the resources right now to conduct focused stings ticketing drivers for texting or talking on the phone while driving, enforcing distracted driving laws and educating the public on the dangers of cell phone use behind the wheel is a priority for the city's force.

Two pilot campaigns undertaken in 2010 aimed at increasing enforcement of distracted driving laws ticketed in a one-year period nearly 10,000 people who were in violation of the laws — one in Syracuse, New York and the other in Hartford, Conn. The National Transportation Highway Safety Administration found that after each crackdown:

• In Syracuse, both handheld cell phone use and texting behind the wheel declined by one-third.

• In Hartford, where researchers initially identified drivers talking on their cell phones at twice the frequency, there was a 57 percent drop in handheld use and texting behind the wheel dropped by nearly three-quarters.

"Based on these encouraging results, [the administration] plans to further test this same three-part formula," according to the study. That means "tough laws, strong enforcement and ongoing public awareness at the state-wide level."

However, the USA Today story pointed out that, according to "two separate studies by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety ... bans on hand-held cellphones and on texting had not reduced crashes."

Yet, in 2009 alone, nearly 5,500 people were killed and 450,000 more were injured in distracted driving crashes, according to data from Distraction.gov, a federal site that compiles distracted driving information.

Data also show that the number of text messages sent was up in 2011, compared to 2010. In June 2011 alone, more than 196 billion texts were sent or received, a figure that nearly doubled over a two-year period. In addition, a 2009 Pew reserach study found that 40 percent of all American teens "say they have been in a car when the driver used a cell phone in a way that put people in danger."

Krauss said he sees it as a cultural shift.

Technology is such a big part of people's lives now, and in a lot of ways, we are using enforcement to educate people to stay off their phones when they're on the road, he said.

"It's very much like the shift in the late '60s and '70s that taught people about how dangerous it is to drink and drive, Krauss added.

An unscientific count of texting and driving on two of the busiest Rohnert Park intersections found that during peak traffic times, 32 people were on their phones. .

LaHood said in a news release that "there's one message we hope everyone receives loud and clear: the safest way to get from one place to another is to hang up and drive. Powering down your cell phone when you're behind the wheel can save lives — maybe even your own."

Murray agrees.

"Enforcing seatbelt laws took a long time, and getting people to understand the consequences of drunk driving took a long time — this is going to take a long time too," Murray said.

Editor's note: Find out which states have distracted driving laws here. Dunaway, 19, was convicted Nov. 16 of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter. She faces five days in jail, and an additional 120 days of home monitoring. .