LITTLE ROCK — In the more than six months since the Arkansas Legislature passed a law prohibiting sending or receiving text messages while driving, only 11 convictions had been reported as of last week to the state agency that keeps track of drivers’ records.
Meanwhile, a law also passed last year that places restrictions on cell-phone use by younger drivers hasn’t resulted in any convictions, at least none that have been reported to the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration’s Office ofDriver Services, office administrator Tonie Shields said Tuesday.
Restrictions on cell-phone use and text messaging took effect Oct. 1.
Act 181 prohibits “using a handheld wireless telephone for wireless interactive communication while operating a motor vehicle,” except in emergencies. The law is known as Paul’s Law, in memory of Paul Davidson of Jonesboro who was killed in a 2008 crash in which the driver of the other vehicle reportedly was typing a text message just before the ac-cident.
Another pair of laws, known as the Fewer Distractions Mean Safer Driving Act, prohibit people younger than 18 from using cell phones while driving. People ages 18-20 can use cell phones while driving only if they use handsfree devices.
Each violation of the text messaging law is punishable by a fine of up to $100, plus court costs. The cell-phones law specifies that young drivers caught talking on cell phones will receive warnings for first offenses and $50 fines for subsequent offenses.
Police officers in several departments across the state praised the laws for raising awareness of the dangers of distracted driving, but they said violators are hard to catch.
One reason, they said, is that it is legal for people age 21 and older to talk on cell phones while driving. Also, it’s difficult for officers to tell whether drivers are sending text messages or merely scrolling through lists of phone numbers, they said.
“Basically, it’s right place, right time,” Conway police officer Chris Harris said of catching violators. “If I pass you going the opposite direction, or even the same direction, it’s going to be kind of hard, unless you sit there right next to them and watch them.”
Also, the laws that restrict cell-phone use by younger drivers are secondary offenses, meaning that officers can’t pull over motorists on that basis alone.
State Rep. Ray Kidd, DJonesboro, the lead sponsor of the text-messaging law, said it “kind of saddens” him to know that only 11 convictions have been reported so far, but he noted that the law “was not meant to be a punitive type, lock-them-up-and-throwaway-the-key” measure.
“It’s mainly to bring it to people’s attention” that driving while text messaging is dangerous, Kidd said.
Still, he said, if police aren’t enforcing the law, legislators may need to meet with law enforcement officials to find out why.
“I do want the law-enforcement officers to use the tools that the Legislature gave them,” Kidd said.
Of the convictions that have been reported, two were in Jacksonville and two were in Newport. Fort Smith, Van Buren, Heber Springs, Conway, Cabot, Sherwood and Pine Bluff each had one.
Officers in some cities said their agencies have issued tickets that are still pending in court.
For instance, Fayettevillehas yet to report any convictions to the Office of Driver Services, but Cpl. Rick Crisman said Tuesday that officers in the city have written 16 tickets and seven warnings for text-messaging violations.
While he didn’t know the details of the violations, Crisman noted that many of the almost 20,000 students at the University of Arkansas are in the “demographic for texting,”
“I would say we have a lot of people who do it, who live and breathe” by texting, Crisman said.
In Conway, Harris said, police have issued a couple of tickets. One of them, he said, was written about two months ago by an officer on a motorcycle who was monitoring traffic at an intersection and noticed a driver typing on her cell phone.
“He was right next to the lady, and she was just steadily texting,” Harris said.
Little Rock police have not issued any tickets for cellphone or text-messaging violations, said Lisa Tatum, the administrator for Little Rock’s traffic court. In North Little Rock, Sgt. Terry Kuykendall said that department had not issued any tickets under the new laws when he last checked a few months ago. He said he did not have access to more up-to-date information Tuesday.
The Arkansas State Police does not have a way to count the number of tickets issued by troopers under the new laws, spokesman Bill Sadler said.
Violations under Paul’s Law are considered primary offenses, meaning officerscan pull over drivers they see text messaging even if no other traffic laws are being broken at the time. The text of the law doesn’t explicitly say that, however, which initially caused some confusion among police agencies.
In response to a question by Rep. Toni Bradford, D-Pine Bluff, the attorney general’s office clarified on Dec. 1 that officers have the authority to stop drivers for text messaging while driving.
“Absent some limitation on enforcement, all laws are subject to primary enforcement,” the opinion said.
Arkansas’ restrictions on cell-phone use and text messaging came amid a national effort by highway safety advocates to discourage people from driving while using electronic devices.
According to a report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 5,870 people were killed in accidents in 2008 that involved drivers distracted by such things as talking on cell phones, eating or talking to passengers.
In addition to Arkansas, 20 other states and the District of Columbia now ban text messaging for all drivers, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association, which is made up of the highway safety offices in each state. In 15 states, including Arkansas, as well as the District of Columbia, driving while text messaging is a primary offense.
Six states ban all hand-held cell phone use by drivers, and 23 states ban all cell-phone use by younger drivers, according to the association.
Kara Macek, a spokesman for the Governors Highway Safety Association, said most of the laws have been enacted in the past few years. While the laws have helped raise awareness of the dangers of driving while distracted, she said, it’s too early to say what effect they have had on drivers’ behavior.
“Obviously, the more the law is enforced, the better,” she said.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 04/14/2010