A conference committee Tuesday breathed life into a measure banning the use of hand-held cellphones while driving.
The bill originated as H.62 and passed the House with broad support before moving to the Senate, where it failed to emerge from the Judiciary Committee. The House then added it to a transportation bill, S.314, but the Senate balked at that move, forcing a conference committee.
The committee of three senators (Peg Flory, R-Rutland; Richard Mazza, D-Chittenden/Grand Isle; and Dick Sears, D-Bennington) and three representatives (David Potter, D-Clarendon; Patrick Brennan, R-Colchester; and Maxine Grad, D-Moretown) met Tuesday to reconcile the differences.
Flory reported that the Senate version called for the removal of the points assessed for a first offense of driving while using a hand-held phone. The House bill called for two points to be assessed against a driver’s license for a first violation and a fine of not less than $100 and not more than $200, the same penalty as the existing texting-while-driving law carries.
The Senate version includes the fine for a first offense but removes the two points against one’s license. Points would be assessed for subsequent violations that occur within a two-year period. The accumulation of 10 or more points in a two-year period results in license suspension.
All of the committee members appeared to agree that the law should go into effect Oct. 1, rather than July 1, and that an educational effort should take place before then to inform drivers of the requirement. That could take place through public service announcements and electronic roadside signage, Mazza said.
The Senate proposal also makes some adjustments in language regarding insurance cancellation notification.
House members of the conference committee asked for time to consider the changes and the conference will resume at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Mazza said. That is expected to be the final day that bills can advance this session. If approved by the conference committee, the House would likely vote on it Friday and the Senate on Saturday, members said. House Speaker Shap Smith has set an adjournment target of Saturday.
Gov. Peter Shumlin and Sears have both said they oppose the bill because it fails to address the broader issue of distracted driving. Sears repeated that position at Tuesday’s conference, but did not argue with the Senate version. Police officials have said the ban will help them enforce the existing law against texting while driving.
“The Governor wants a bill that makes sense for Vermont,” Shumlin spokeswoman Susan Allen said in an email Tuesday. “He is concerned about legislation that would be difficult to enforce, could increase Vermonters’ insurance rates and harm their driving records. He welcomes the Legislature’s willingness to work with him toward a compromise proposal.”
Shumlin has also expressed concern about the impact of the law particularly on the record of young drivers, a worry that the Senate’s point-reduction addresses.
The bill has been described by many as a clash between two of the Senate’s most influential personalities, Democrats Mazza and Sears. Mazza, a longtime opponent of a ban on cellphone use, reversed his position this session saying it was time for it to pass.
Sears has consistently said he believes the bill “will not accomplish what its supporters think it will.”
While the motor vehicles bill, to which the cellphone ban is attached, is not strictly a “must-pass” bill and conceivably could be left behind, lawmakers said that was unlikely.
Grad, who said her constituents have supported a ban on cellphone use while driving for several years — citing a Doyle poll saying that about 76 percent approve of the ban — said she is “very optimistic” that the bill will now pass.
“It’s the will of the people,” Grad said. “It is a deterrent. It is self-enforcing and it sends a message. These laws do change behavior.”
Public Safety Commissioner Keith Flynn said Tuesday that enforcement is always the chief concern with laws about talking on the phone, texting or wearing a seat belt while driving.
Troopers rarely pull people over for texting because drivers can say they were talking on their cellphones, Flynn said. This bill would broaden the reasons troopers could stop a driver using a phone, he said.
VTDigger’s Laura Krantz contributed to this report.
