No back talk; this could save lives

When Nicole Arney, 17, was killed last month in a accident as she drove along Highway 36 near Eureka, the teenager had been talking on a cellphone, speeding and not wearing a seat belt, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Traveling 50 to 60 mph in a 20-mph zone, her minivan encountered a sharp curve, flipped over a guardrail and plummeted 300 feet down an embankment. Nicole, of nearby Carlotta, was ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene. The crash was so forceful, the vehicle was “flattened down to about 2 feet,” said CHP Sgt. Tom Allen.

Excessive speed, using a cellphone while driving, inattention and her failure to buckle up all likely contributed to the fatal accident, Allen said. Shortly before the crash, the teenager told her friend on the cellphone that her foot was caught on something in the vehicle.

It’s tragic accidents such as this that have recently prompted California legislators to propose banning teen provisional drivers from talking on cellphones -- including hands-free devices -- while on the road. Motor-vehicle crashes are the No. 1 cause of death and serious injury among young people nationwide. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that the number of U.S. motor-vehicle fatalities involving 16- to 20-year olds rose to 7,405 last year, up from 7,353 the previous year.

Legislators in California and a growing number of other states say something has to be done to curtail such tragedies. Proposed solutions include minor citations for young drivers and ticketing their parents.

“We have sent a strong message that drinking and driving do not mix, and now we have to send the message to our teenagers that yakking on a cellphone while driving doesn’t mix either,” says Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia (R-Cathedral City).

Garcia’s proposed bill would prohibit teens with provisional licenses from using a cellphone and text-messaging while operating a motor vehicle, unless there is an emergency. The bill, already approved by the Assembly transportation committee, was to be heard this week by the Senate committee, Garcia says.

If the bill becomes law, such a violation would be considered a secondary offense, meaning that police could only cite the teen driver if the officer had already stopped the vehicle for a separate violation.

Penalties for a first offense under the proposed bill would be eight to 16 hours of community service and a $35 fine. A second offense would require 16 to 24 hours of community service and a $50 fine.

As a mother of two teenage drivers, Garcia believes it’s imperative that young and inexperienced drivers be free of distractions while driving.

“Not only are they risking their own lives but the lives of others when they are driving around in a 2,500-pound vehicle at 60 and 70 mph ... and socializing on a cellphone,” she said.

CHP Lt. Joe Whiteford has seen his share of distracted drivers chatting on their cellphones and risking the safety of other motorists.

He recalled the time he was in his patrol car at an intersection when a teenage driver “blew right through a red light and almost hit me. He never even saw me, he was too busy talking on the cellphone. It was scary,” says Whiteford, who ticketed the driver.

In fact, a study of 18-to-25-year-old drivers by the University of Utah found that when young drivers are talking on their cellphones while driving, their reaction time is comparable to that of a 70-year-old, which increases their risk of having an accident.

The traffic agency’s policy statement on cellphone usage says research shows that driving while using a cellphone can pose “serious cognitive distraction and degrade a driver’s performance.”

The agency estimates that driver distraction contributes to 25% of all police-reported traffic crashes.

Assemblyman Bill Maze (R-Visalia) has proposed a bill that would create a night-driving curfew for provisional drivers of 11 p.m. The current curfew is midnight. His bill would also restrict provisional teen drivers from having other teens in the car for one year.

Currently, the law prevents them from driving with other teens for the first six months they have their licenses. (Provisional licenses restrict teens’ driving hours and whom they can transport in the first year of driving.)

State Sen. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough ) is proposing a bill that would allow police to stop teens who may be suspected of violating teenage driving laws. The bill would also allow police to ticket parents who knowingly allow their teenagers to violate the rules. Speier also proposes requiring new teen drivers to have a placard in their vehicles that identifies them as provisional drivers.

That idea has already drawn some criticism from students and parents, including Garcia and Maze, who fear young drivers could be unfairly targeted by authorities.

Taylor Leiby, 17, of Seal Beach, had a mixed reaction to proposed legislation targeting young drivers. On the one hand, he said, it’s important to save lives, and he agrees that text messaging while driving is particularly dangerous. “You can’t be driving and looking down at your phone and pressing buttons at the same time. It’s out of the question.”

However, banning young drivers from talking on cellphones while driving could be inconvenient, says the Los Alamitos High School junior, who has already passed his provisional period and recently got his first car. “You can’t pull over to the side of the road -- especially on a freeway -- every time you get a call,” he said. Creating a driving curfew of 11 p.m. for provisional drivers “would be a huge problem and interfere with teenagers’ social lives.” It could affect their ability, he said, to drive home from late football games or dances, for example.

But many -- particularly adults -- would argue that safe driving takes precedence over socializing and taking cellphone calls.

We should also focus on getting all the cellphone-yakking adults to be responsible. They’re old enough to know that a speedy freeway is no place for chitchat.

Jeanne Wright can be reached at jeanrite@aol.com.