By Mike Lavelle
As many of us know, distracted driving has become a significant problem in recent years. In fact, two (motorcycle riding) friends of mine recently were rear ended (while they were driving cars), by inattentive motorists. Both of these accidents would have resulted in serious injuries, if not fatalities, if they were on their motorcycles. We all have stories of seeing distracted drivers, my two “best” examples are the driver seen reading a book on his steering wheel on Speedway and the driver on I-10 4 feet behind a car in the fast lane (looking down at her phone), for over 5 seconds.
According to retired Arizona State patrolman Chris Diaz, with his experience as an advanced accident investigator, a vehicle traveling at 55 will cover 80 feet in one second and that 3 seconds is an ideal reaction time, meaning that a vehicle can cover over 180 feet, before a person will likely react. It stands to reason that being distracted for even a few seconds is very dangerous.
As many motorcyclists will attest, distracted drivers pose an even greater threat to motorcyclists and while we all have driving close call stories, I can attest that in over 40 years of driving both cars and motorcycles, for every close call I had driving a car, there were more “close calls” while riding a motorcycle and the consequences are more severe.
According to www.trafficsafetymarketing.gov, “Motorcycle crashes involving another motor vehicle continue to account for nearly half of all motorcyclist fatalities in the United States . . . From a statistical perspective, motorcyclists are 27 times more likely to die in a crash than other motorists.” According to Sgt. Edward Curtin, Traffic Unit Supervisor of the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, in 2018 there were 95 accidents that involved a motorcycle and 7 of them resulted in a fatality.
Part of this is due to the fact that motorcycles are harder to see, it is harder to calculate their apparent speed, and in some case, drivers seem to think that the nautical Law of Gross Tonnage, “The heavier vessel always has the right-of-way” applies to cars, motorcycles, and bicycles, as was the case when an SUV pulled right in front of a group of us, (on motorcycles), from a side street, as the driver looked right at us! We had the right of way, and the driver was at a stop sign, but apparently felt justified in not only pulling in front of us, but stopping and waiting for cross traffic on the other side to provide space to enter the traffic flow.
While nobody is safe from careless drivers, passing a distracted driving bill could ensure a safer driving experience for all of us. Accordingly, the Arizona legislature sent two statewide distracted driving bills (HB 2318 and SB 1141) to the governor, that will benefit both car drivers, motorcycle riders, and bicyclists. The recent death of Salt River Police officer Clayton Townsend, by a distracted driver, provided momentum to pass these bills.
On Monday, the 22nd of April, the governor signed HB 2318 that bans texting and any handheld use of an electronic device while driving. HB 2318 will specifically prohibit holding or supporting any “wireless communication device” but does allow using an earpiece, headphone, or watch to communicate (over Bluetooth), or the use of GPS, but specifically prohibits writing, sending or reading any text, message, email and watching videos while driving. Although, the bill does allow drivers to text and make phone calls while a vehicle is stopped at a red light or railroad crossing.
The measures will make these offenses primary, meaning law enforcement officers need no additional justification to pull over drivers once distracted driving is observed. If passed, the bill will go into law 01 January 2021. A first violation would result in ticket of between $75 and $150 and $150 to $250 for following violations. Since the bill is 12 pages, we cannot provide full citation of the bill; however, the full bill can be seen at https://www.azleg.gov/legtext/54leg/1R/bills/HB2318S.pdf
