Taking aim at texting

MOUNT PLEASANT -- It soon could be illegal to text and drive in this town.

On Monday, three of four members of the Police, Legal and Judicial Committee, including Mayor Billy Swails, voted to ban text messaging while driving.

The mayor called for a public hearing on the issue at a council meeting April 13.

Statistics show texting behind the wheel distracts drivers, Swails said.

"It's not about your liberties. It's about safety."

He predicted a close council vote on the texting while driving ban.

The town stands to become the first in the Lowcountry to make sending text messages while motoring an offense. To become law, the texting ban would have to get two favorable council votes. It will be considered for the first time at a council meeting April 9.

Clemson City Council on Feb. 15 became the first city in South Carolina to approve a ban on text messaging behind the wheel. That ban, which goes into effect June 1, also outlaws reading text messages or printed materials or e-mailing. It carries a fine of $100 plus court costs.

Nineteen states, including North Carolina, and the District of Columbia have enacted laws governing texting while driving. The South Carolina Legislature is considering similar measures.

Mount Pleasant Town Councilwoman Thomasena Stokes-Marshall introduced a motion Monday at the committee meeting to ban texting and talking on a cell phone while driving, but it failed to gain support. She followed it with a motion to ban texting while driving, which was seconded by Councilman Nick Collins and supported by Swails.

"I figured if I could at least get them to support me with the texting that was better than nothing," Stokes-Marshall said. "I haven't changed my position. I think one is as bad as the other."

"It's just a hazard that can be avoided," Collins said. "The main concern is that there are already too many distractions while we are driving."

Bills making their way to the state House and Senate floors recently included a House measure that would ban text messaging and talking on a hand-held phone while driving, and Senate legislation that would bar only texting and e-mailing while driving.

The council committee voted on the texting while driving ban after hearing from Town Attorney Allen Young, who said that council did have the authority to impose such a measure. But if statewide laws governing texting while driving are passed in the General Assembly, they would be the final say on the issue, Young said.

Young has not yet been directed to draft an ordinance to ban texting while driving.

Proving that a driver was using a cell phone to send a text message would require the phone or phone records as evidence. "I don't think it's going to be real pleasant to take somebody's cell phone," Young said.

Councilman Paul Gawrych cast the dissenting vote Monday. Gawrych said he agrees that texting while driving is a serious safety issue but that it should be handled by state lawmakers. "We need to slow down," he said. "We need to talk about where we are going with this and what it all means."

Councilman John Burn, who is not a committee member but attended the meeting, said he is against the texting while driving ban. "How do you know whether I'm dialing my cell phone or texting? You're talking about a can of logistical worms," Burn said.

In 2009, more than 200 distracted driving bills were considered by state legislatures, and legislative activity is expected to remain strong in 2010.

Many safety groups have urged a nationwide ban on texting and on using handheld mobile devices while behind the wheel, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Clemson Police Chief Jimmy Dixon has said that research has shown that a person texting while driving is 23 times more likely to have a collision than a driver whose blood alcohol level is twice the legal limit as determined by a breath test.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that distracted and inattentive driving contributed to nearly 6,000 roadway deaths across the country in 2008. The agency conducted a study that found drivers talking on cell phones were 30 percent more likely to crash.

Reach Prentiss Findlay at 937-5711 or pfindlay@postandcourier.com.