New state law will tighten

restrictions on cell phone use in cars

By AARON BUTLER
SALT LAKE CITY Kenneth Kenworthy, 25, talked slowly and deliberately, recounting a life-changing
accident from his high school days.
Now a graduating senior about to earn
his business degree in organizational
behavior and human resources, Kenworthy remembers traveling outside
his school district every day to attend
marching band practice at American
Fork High School.
Two of his fellow band mates, however, were involved in a tragic car
accident and killed, devastating their
community. And one of the hardest
parts about it? The driver was texting.
I remember thinking then that it
wasnt very smart, Kenworthy said.
And as Ive heard more and more over
the years, it seems like everyone knows
someone whos been in an accident
related to texting while driving, but
people still do it anyway.
Current law prohibits drivers in Utah
from texting while driving, but the word
texting in the legislation has made
the law virtually unenforceable as texting is a small subset of what we do on
our phones.
Effective May 13, a new driving law

will tighten restrictions on distracting phone behaviors. Drivers will still

be able to put a device to their ear, but
beyond that, they shouldnt plan on
touching a phone unless theyre eager
to pay a $100 citation.
The new distracted-driver amendments will have police officers looking
for any manipulation of a handheld
device. That means texting, emailing,
dialing a phone number, taking or viewing pictures and videos, surfing the web
and really just about anything else that
requires fingers.
Sen. Steve Urquhart, R-St.George,
decided to sponsor the bill when one
of his constituents, Leslee Henson,
encouraged him to take a stand on
stricter distracted-driving regulations.
On March 4, 2013, Henson was on a
routine morning walk with her husband, David. A driver, texting while at
the wheel, looked up just in time to see
she was hurtling into the slow-moving
car ahead of her. The two cars collided.
David Henson threw his wife out of the
way, and the second car hit the Hensons,
injuring Leslee and killing David.
I realize we have to do something
when people are driving, Urquhart
said. The act of looking down and being
engaged and typing something out is so
distracting. Ive been dangerous doing
it. Weve all been dangerous doing it.

For most, theres no question that texting while driving is dangerous. However, the issue is that the current law
is ambiguous. It makes it tough for law
enforcement to spot texters, especially
when all they have to say to get out of
a citation is that they were doing anything other than texting.
The way its written right now, even
if we do see (texting), were not sure if
were really seeing it, said Utah Highway Patrol Officer Brent Shelby. The
way theyre changing it is to make
it broader and to make it easier to
enforce.
Under the new law, texting while
driving will result in a class C misdemeanor, resulting in a $100 fine. But if
a drivers texting and driving results in
the injury of another person, the driver
will be charged with a more serious
class B misdemeanor.
Urquhart emphasized that boosting
the number of texting citations isnt the
point of tighter restrictions.
Its not to nail people or to fine them;
its to encourage different behavior, he
argued. Thats the intent of the family
pursuing this. They dont want people to
get points on their insurance; they want
people to commit to it and commit to not
do it.
See LAW on Page 3

Photo illustration by Aaron Butler

Utahs new, tougher texting law may dissuade drivers from using phones in the car.

The Universe, May 1319, 2014

LAW

and Ill be finishing a message and the light changes,

he recalled. The light turns
green, and people are like,
What is this guy doing?
With a little honk of the horn,
hes jolted back to reality.
Continued from Page 1
Many students may be in
that same category, composOne of the textingist demo- ing seemingly harmless texts
graphics are teens and young in the car every now and then.
adults. That includes col- Like Woodbury, sometimes it
lege students, and BYU is no takes a jolt to get drivers back
exception.
into reality; but the jolt can be
Textinganddrivingsafety. severe.
com, a site dedicated to gathAc c or d i n g
to
ering statistics to support ut . z er of at a l it ie s.c om , t he
healthy driving behavior, indi- state-run website promoting
cates that 77 percent of young safety on Utah roads, there
adults feel they are some- were 11 distraction-related
what or very confident that deaths in 2013 in Utah. Accordthey can text
ing to the
whi le d rivUnited States
ing, and 55
Department of
percent feel
Transportalike its easy.
tion, d rivers
who text are
But
the
23 times more
truth is those
likely to get in
young driva n ac cident .
ers are spending a lot of
And there were
ti me wit h
1.4 million cell
t h ei r e y e s
phone -related
inside their
cr a she s t h at
vehicles and
occurred last
t hei r veh iyear.
cles outside
In all seritheir lanes.
ou sne s s, it s
The average
not worth the
a mou nt of
risk that you
put on other
time a driver
Photo courtesy Brett Neilson
t a kes t hei r
drivers around
eyes of the Law enforcement officers will
you, the vehir o a d wh e n now have an easier time spotting cles, the potentexting is five texters.
tial proper ty
d a m a g e ,
seconds. Just
to put that into perspective, Woodbury said. Its not worth
five seconds will take driv- the lives.
ers all the way across LaVell
This new legislation could
Edwards Stadium if theyre mean big changes for some
drivers who are accustomed
moving at freeway speeds.
Brian Woodbury, 25, a senior to using their phones. State
studying public health, had a safety officials are hoping it
health behaviors class that got will mean big changes to the
him thinking more seriously crash statistics.
about texting and driving.
There is no reason to text
I think on any day you and drive, and there are so
can go out and find BYU stu- many reasons not to, Kendents out in their cars, and worthy said in the wake of
theyre texting and driving, his college graduation, a cereand theyre trying to do more mony some young adults never
than one thing at once, Wood- see due to tragic accidents of
bury said. Our phones are so distraction.
second nature, almost. Were
Most legislation is put in
attached to them were glued place for the protection of the
to them.
citizenry, and I think that this
Woodbury doesnt text while (new law) applies there, he
driving, but he does admit to continued. And I think that
pulling his phone out at the kind of legislation is pretty
occasional stoplight or stop valid.
For more information on the
sign.
Ill be sitting at a stoplight, bill, visit le.utah.gov.

New cell phone

restrictions