The Charleston City Paper
When was the last time you saw somebody driving and texting or driving and looking at their cell phone? Yesterday? Or that person waiting at a stoplight, who fails to move forward when it turns green because he’s glued to the dang phone? Today?
Mobile phones, packed with powerful computers that used to take up rooms, are a convenience of modern life. But they can cause big problems — distracted driving and deadly wrecks, for instance — when used irresponsibly.
That’s why we applaud the South Carolina General Assembly for (finally) making it illegal to drive while holding a mobile phone. Starting Sept. 1, it’s not even supposed to be in your lap. The new law also reinforced a texting ban and prohibited watching movies or playing video games while driving. Pushing buttons and looking at or reading a screen while zipping down a busy roadway is a recipe for trouble.
But there are problems with the new hands-free cell phone law: enforcement and teeth.
First, the new law makes it tough for police to actually charge a person with breaking it. The law specifically says police can’t “stop a person for a violation of this section except when the officer has reasonable suspicion that a violation has occurred based on the officer’s clear and unobstructed view of a person who is unlawfully using a wireless electronic communication device while operating a motor vehicle on the public streets and highways of this state.” In other words, an officer has to clearly see the violation, which can be difficult with vehicles traveling quickly on roads and highways.
Second, the new law doesn’t have much teeth to keep drivers from violating it. If you’re caught — and that can be tough — and ticketed, first offenders face only a $100 fine. If you are caught a second, third or fourth time within three years? The fine goes to $200 and you could get two points on your license. Most people likely figure, “Big whoop,” because the chance that they’ll be clearly seen — twice or more — by a patrolling officer is slim.
So it’s good we’ve got the law on the books. But it’s mostly a toothless tiger.
Oh, if you really want to understand the courage of state lawmakers who finally passed the law, you might want to consider that letter last year from federal highway officials to the state that said South Carolina would lose up to $80 million in road funding if a hands-free law were not passed by July 2025.
Hands-free driving makes common sense. It’s key to responsible and safe motoring. And despite a toothless law now on the books, just put down the damned cell phone too often connected to your hand like a bad wart.
Charleston City Paper is an award-winning weekly newspaper in Charleston, S.C.
