June 07--Authorities attempting to enforce a statewide ban on texting while driving going into effect Aug. 1 may be up against some problems.
Police in Decatur and Athens, where city ordinances have been in place since late 2010, said offenders are tough to spot, and only a handful have been cited.
State police spokesman Sgt. Steve Jarrett said troopers intend to give the law "the attention it deserves," but how many citations are issued will depend on whether drivers comply and put down their cellphones.
"We will work with the prosecuting district attorneys to determine exactly what evidence will be required to make a case," Jarrett said in an email.
How well the law is enforced will be revealed after early cases are made and case law is created.
"Phone records may be obtained, as they are now, in cases involving crashes with injury and/or death," he said.
Sgt. Kevin Hunter of the Decatur Police Traffic Division said only four citations have been given for texting while driving since the city ordinance went into effect.
"It's hard to enforce because when they see a police car, they're going to stop texting," Hunter said. "I see it all the time in my personal vehicle, but there's nothing I can do about that."
City Prosecutor Emily Baggett said two of those cited entered guilty pleas and two are set for trial.
Though Baggett has not yet tried a texting citation, she said, the key evidence probably would be video from the officer's patrol car, as well as the officer's observations.
But, "It's hard for an officer to see," she said.
Baggett said additional cases involving juveniles have been handled by juvenile court.
"Kids are obviously your bigger target," she said. "I think kids don't realize that if you commit a traffic offense and kill somebody, that you can be charged with murder or vehicular homicide."
Athens Police Chief Floyd Johnson spoke of similar difficulties.
"You don't know what they're doing," he said. "Are they dialing a number or researching something? You can assume, but you can't see what they're doing."
Johnson said the exact number of texting while driving charges in Athens isn't easily calculable.
"I would think it would only be a few," he said. "The limitations on it, the requirements for the charge, are restrictive."
The Athens ordinance doesn't allow police to stop motorists solely on suspicion of texting. A driver can be cited for texting only when it is accompanied by another violation.
Johnson said the state's new law appears stricter and could supersede the city ordinance.
The danger of getting a ticket may cause some to curb their texting, but the fines -- $25 for the first offense, $50 for the second and $75 for each subsequent offense -- are lower than those imposed by the Decatur and Athens ordinances, where fines range from $100 or 10 days in jail for a first offense and up to $500 and three months in jail for a third offense.
However, the state law assigns two points to the offense, meaning a conviction would count toward suspension of the driver's license and could affect insurance premiums, Baggett said.
It also does not contain as many exemptions, such as one in Decatur allowing a driver at a red light to text.
Eddie Russell of the North Alabama Highway Safety Office said law enforcement will adapt.
"It's not going to be as easily seen as someone not wearing a seat belt, so law enforcement is going to definitely have to pay particular attention to that violation than, say, looking for someone weaving," he said.
Drivers distracted by electronic communication devices was the primary contributing factor in 931 Alabama wrecks in 2010, including three resulting in death and 233 with injuries, according to statistics from troopers.
In 2011, 123 of 12,332 crashes in the nine northern Alabama counties covered by the NAHSO were caused by distraction by use of an electronic communication device. Sixty-three were caused by drivers distracted by other electronic devices and 310 from crashes as a result of other distractions inside the vehicle, Russell said.
Most distracted drivers causing crashes are ages 15 to 33, Russell said.
"After age 34 or 35, the statistics start going back down," Russell said.
"Who are the primary users of the technology? It's your young people. They've grown up with that technology, whereas an older generation has not."
Russell said he expects Alabamians to be divided in their opinions on the law.
"Parents are going to love it," he said. "Teenagers are going to hate it. Other people will be in between, depending on their age."
Copyright 2012 - The Decatur Daily, Ala.
