Pawlenty signs ban on texting while driving, plus teen driver restrictions

You may drive like Mario Andretti and write like William Shakespeare, but odds are you can't do both very well at the same time. And, while bad writing never killed anyone, bad driving does on a regular basis.

That's why Minnesota is banning texting while driving. Governor Tim Pawlenty made it official Friday afternoon, when he signed the 2008 Transportation Policy bill into law.

If you're caught composing or sending a text message while you're behind the wheel of a moving car you can be pulled over and ticketed. Even reading incoming messages could lead to a citation.

"Driving requires you to use many different skills and make quick decisions," Katherine Burke Moore of the Minnesota Office of Traffic Safety told KARE 11, "But when you're texting your hand, your eyes, and your mind is on that text message, not on that roadway."

It ought to go without saying.

And yet sending electronic text while driving is on its way to becoming the most prevalent form of multi-tasking on American roads, especially among younger people.

"I'm going to guess that teens can probably text with their fingers faster," Burke Moore asserted, "But they're still looking at it, their minds are still gone and driving is a new skill for teens."

Minnesota becomes only the third state, after Washington and New Jersey, to enact such a prohibition. At least 20 other states are considering such a ban.

Thumbs addicted to keypads

Those who incorporate texting into every other aspect of their waking lives are hard pressed to let their thumbs go idle just because they're behind the wheel.

"I do sometimes but only at stoplights," Alison Stolpa told KARE 11 when approached at random in downtown Saint Paul, "And I wait until I get another stoplight to finish the thought."

So if the light turns green she put the phone down?

"Yes," she replied, "I don't want to run into somebody because I'm writing a text message."

Stolpa's friend, Marcus Lewis, also owned up to being a writing driver in certain situations.

"When I'm on the freeway, only for straight stretches though," Lewis said, "When I have complicated driving I'm not going to do it. But especially when you sit in traffic, I've found it really convenient."

Lewis won't have to worry about the ban, because he's moving to California this summer. Those of us destined to remain in Minnesota may have to find other ways to get those urgent messages cranked out while moving down the highway.

The Department of Public safety suggests drivers find a passenger to serve as a "designated texter" to answer calls and messages while we're on the road.

A generational thing

Texting is such a new term it trips up the spell checker software on most word processing programs. Those of us who grew up without cell phones often have trouble comprehending the need to text, let alone text while driving.

"Maybe you're making plans to meet someone later on," Alison Stolpa told KARE, "Or you just thought of something you want to tell them and it's a weird time of night. It's too late to call and wake them."

It's the same reason people say things with an e-mail instead of a phone call. They're afraid they'll forget about it if they wait until normal waking hours.

And texting, as opposed to talking, allows for one-way uninterrupted messaging.

"Sometimes I just don't want to talk to the person," laughed Marcus Lewis, "So it's easier to send a text."

And in Lewis's case he has unlimited text messaging on his cell phone plan, but not unlimited minutes. Some messages don't warrant making an actual voice call.

"It will be something dumb like a Steely Dan song's on the radio," Lewis explained, "So I have to text somebody that I think it's hilarious, but it's not important enough to warrant a call."

If it's really not all that important, it most likely can wait until you've pulled over and stopped the vehicle.

That's probably a line police officers and state troopers will find themselves saying quite a bit after July 1st.

Teens admit they're distracted

A new survey by the Department of Public Safety asked teenage drivers to list the "top three unsafe driving behaviors I notice my friends engaging in while driving."

Texting topped the list at 70 percent, followed by speeding at 66 percent and talking on a cell phone at 62 percent.

When asked to list "my biggest distractions while driving" texting also led the list, at 38 percent. It was followed by "other passengers" at 27 percent and "music/audio controls" at 22 percent.

"Sometime it's a little scary being in the passenger seat," 16-year-old Liz Howell told KARE Friday, "But I guess a lot of people feel they're experienced enough still manage to text and drive at the same time."

Many teen drivers, of course, are subject to all of those dangers and distractions simultaneously. That's one of the reasons traffic accidents remain the top cause of death for young people in Minnesota.

"Of all the causes of death for teens that's number one," Burke Moore remarked, "You add up number two, three and four and it does not add up to the number that die in crashes."

That's why traffic safety advocates have long argued for a graduated license program for teen drivers. Friday that wish came true.

New restrictions for teen drivers

The same transportation bill included new restrictions on youngest of Minnesota's newly-minted drivers.

Teen drivers will be limited to one teenaged passenger during their first six months behind the wheel, unless their parents are with them.

"It doesn't restrict from your family members, and if your parent is with you can carry as many teens as fit in the seats of the car," Burke Moore explained, "But teen driver by themselves would be limited to one passenger for that six months."

Young Liz Howell wondered how police would guess the age of the driver, when it came to enforcing the law. But she admitted her fellow teen drivers face many distractions in a car full of peers.

"Oh yes, when people are loud and dancing and stuff," she offered.

Dancing in the car?

"Sometimes, yes."

That hasn't been outlawed yet, but it could probably fall under the state's existing statutes related to distracted driving.

The new law would place a curfew on those same provisional drivers, making it illegal for them to drive between midnight and 5:00, unless it's related to a job or school activity.

Until Governor Pawlenty signed the bill Friday, Minnesota was one of only four states left in the nation without any restrictions on youngest drivers.

By John Croman, KARE 11 News

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