Driving-while-texting law results murky; many believe it is still a dangerous and rampant habit

Written by

Robert Allen

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DISTRACTED DRIVING FACTS

» 16 percent of fatal crashes in 2009 involved reports of distracted driving.

» 20 percent of injury crashes in 2009 involved reports of distracted driving.

» In June more than 196 billion text messages were sent or received in the United States, up nearly 50 percent from June 2009.

» Drivers who use handheld devices are four times more likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves.

» Text messaging creates a crash risk 23 times worse than driving while not distracted.

» Using a cell phone while driving - whether it's handheld or hands-free delays a driver's reactions as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08 percent.

» Driving while using a cell phone reduces the amount of brain activity associated with driving by 37 percent.

Law prohibits texting while driving

» The 2-year-old law stemmed from Fort Collins crash.
» The state law against texting and driving went into effect Dec. 1, 2009, after a Fort Collins family and local legislators pleaded with lawmakers for about a year to ban cell-phone use. 
» Lawmakers passed the bill into law after hearing tearful testimony from Shelley Forney, the mother of 9-year-old Erica who was killed in Fort Collins when an SUV driven by a woman who was using her cell phone hit her as she rode her bike home from school.
Shelley Forney had told lawmakers the convenience of a cell phone is "not worth my daughter's life." She called Erica her "little Sunshine."
» Texting for all motorists, and cell-phone use for motorists under 18, were banned under the law. 
» Erica Forney died on Thanksgiving Day in 2008, about a year and a week before the cell phone restrictions took effect.
»Shelley Forney is a founding board member of Focus Driven, which advocates against the use of cell phones while driving.

From his perch behind the wheel of a Fort Collins city bus, Ron Thurston has a clear picture of the "extraordinary things" people do when they drive, like sending text messages.

Two years after texting and driving became illegal in Colorado, many are aware of the crime. But distracted drivers remain rampant.

Asked whether the texting motorist is a common sighting, Thurston replied: "Only, I would say, frequently, on a daily basis, multiple times in the day."

The crime is difficult to enforce. For adults, using a cell phone for texting or data entry is illegal, but dialing or looking up a contact to make a phone call is not.

Because it's a primary offense, police can pull someone over just for texting and driving, but it's tough to see what people are doing on their phones.

And as with most criminal activities, motorists are more discreet when there's a clearly-marked patrol car in the next lane.

Corporal Nelson Sanderson with Larimer County Sheriff's Office said he doesn't see nearly as many violations when he's in his sheriff's cruiser as when he's in his personal vehicle.

"I'm actually quite shocked at the lack of attention when people are operating a motor vehicle," he said. "It's almost frightening to watch."

Dangerous distractions

Since texting and driving became illegal in December 2009, the sheriff's office has written only one citation.

Fort Collins Police Services has written 41, (20 in 2010, 21 in 2011) with one warning. In Boulder, police have written 15.

Meanwhile, Fort Collins tallied 3,561 traffic collisions in 2010, down only 21 from 2009.

The city's records departments don't track crashes involving texting, so there's no data to indicate what direct impact the law might have had.

"I still see plenty of people texting on their cell phones while driving in town or on the highway," said Fort Collins State Rep. Randy Fischer. He said he's not aware of any statewide data analyzing whether texting-and-driving instances have changed since the law was passed.

Fischer, who co-sponsored the legislation with fellow Democrats Rep. John Kefalas and Sen. Bob Bacon, had intended for the law to include both voice and text, but there wasn't enough support in the state Legislature. Rather, only people under 18 are prohibited from talking on the phone and driving.

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