Owens Proposes Cell-Phone Use Fine
Lawmaker's Bill Imposes Fine for Dialing and Driving -- and Crashing
By Isabelle Kallie
A local lawmaker is proposing a bill this week calling for a $100 fine if you end up in a traffic accident while using your cell phone. Oshkosh Representative Carol Owens says there needs to be more accountability for drivers who aren't paying attention while they talk.
Owens says drivers think, "'It's not going to happen to me. I can talk on the phone and drive and do whatever.'" "There are other distractions besides the phone, granted, but it seems that the phone has become so prevalent," Owens says.
We wanted to know how much of a role cell phones play in crashes but officers couldn't give us an answer, and they say enforcing this proposed law would be difficult. Police say right now the only way they can cite a driver distracted by a cell phone during an accident is to ticket them for inattentive driving. A typical accident report gives no room to note whether a driver using a cell phone contributed to the crash.
Tracking the information on the report form by adding another box will provide some data that will help us make decisions on in the future. I don't think anything bad could come from tracking that information," Captain Mike Jobe, Outagamie County Sheriff's Department, said.
Police say if they can track the drivers using a cell phone during an accident, it'll bring to light how imperative it is to not take any calls when driving. Law enforcers note that cell phone use isn't the only cause of inattentive driving. They also cite:
Changing the radio or CD player
Talking with other passengers
Adjusting the climate controls
Eating, drinking, or smoking
Still, officers say the motivation behind the proposal is a good one. "I think anything that draws attention to the number of accidents that occur because people aren't paying attention will eventually led to fewer accidents, and there's nothing bad about that at all," Jobe says.
Jan 18, 2007 05:10 PM CST - WBAY-TV
The Journal Sentinal commented on the futility of a similar proposal in '03:
"People yakety-yak-yak on cell phones all the time, and once in a while someone yaks right through a stop sign or a red light. Surely, a cell phone ban will be worth it if we can save just one life.But why stop at one?Thirty percent of drivers in one recent study talked on cell phones. But 71% ate, drank or spilled food and beverages. A full 86% experienced some sort of "external distraction."
I hereby propose a ban on tube tops.
And one other thing. The new study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and the University of North Carolina proves that the distraction of talking on a cell phone is nothing compared to the distraction of kids.Kids - let's face it - are frighteningly dangerous.Babies alone distract your average parent-cum-driver 8.4 times per hour, according to the new study."
http://winassem.blogspot.com/2006/12/carol-owens-and-cell-phones.html
Here is another related topic to Owens and Cell Phones:
One funny thing that did occur, however, was when I stood up to ask which anonymous Republican member of the assembly objected to funding for a position in the Dane County District Attorney’s office. While I was speaking, my cell phone went off. Dumb.
But State Rep. Carol Owens, one of the more conservative members of the GOP caucus, saw it as an opportunity to bash me. Carol, ah, doesn’t apparently like “gay” people. And to her, I’m one big homo. Carol won’t even ride the elevator with me. Too bad for Carol.
But she demanded an apology for the ringing of the cell phone, and asked that it be taken away from me while I’m on the floor. As she ranted and raved, I went to her desk and gave her my cell phone. Problem solved? Nope, instead she asked the Sergeants’ office staff to come and get the “gadget” from her desk. Gadget. You know you’re out of touch with your constituents and for that matter the 21st century, when a cell phone is a “gadget”. I have to wonder what she calls her computer.
Addendum: A few hours later GOP Rep. Phil Montgomery's cell phone went off on the Assembly floor. Owens was silent on the ringing of the gadget. At the very end of session, so did Democratic Rep. Jim Kreuser. Again, nothing from Owens.
http://markpocan.blogspot.com/2006/05/assembly-in-session-today-to-create.html
By Isabelle Kallie
A local lawmaker is proposing a bill this week calling for a $100 fine if you end up in a traffic accident while using your cell phone. Oshkosh Representative Carol Owens says there needs to be more accountability for drivers who aren't paying attention while they talk.
Owens says drivers think, "'It's not going to happen to me. I can talk on the phone and drive and do whatever.'" "There are other distractions besides the phone, granted, but it seems that the phone has become so prevalent," Owens says.
We wanted to know how much of a role cell phones play in crashes but officers couldn't give us an answer, and they say enforcing this proposed law would be difficult. Police say right now the only way they can cite a driver distracted by a cell phone during an accident is to ticket them for inattentive driving. A typical accident report gives no room to note whether a driver using a cell phone contributed to the crash.
Tracking the information on the report form by adding another box will provide some data that will help us make decisions on in the future. I don't think anything bad could come from tracking that information," Captain Mike Jobe, Outagamie County Sheriff's Department, said.
Police say if they can track the drivers using a cell phone during an accident, it'll bring to light how imperative it is to not take any calls when driving. Law enforcers note that cell phone use isn't the only cause of inattentive driving. They also cite:
Changing the radio or CD player
Talking with other passengers
Adjusting the climate controls
Eating, drinking, or smoking
Still, officers say the motivation behind the proposal is a good one. "I think anything that draws attention to the number of accidents that occur because people aren't paying attention will eventually led to fewer accidents, and there's nothing bad about that at all," Jobe says.
Jan 18, 2007 05:10 PM CST - WBAY-TV
The Journal Sentinal commented on the futility of a similar proposal in '03:
"People yakety-yak-yak on cell phones all the time, and once in a while someone yaks right through a stop sign or a red light. Surely, a cell phone ban will be worth it if we can save just one life.But why stop at one?Thirty percent of drivers in one recent study talked on cell phones. But 71% ate, drank or spilled food and beverages. A full 86% experienced some sort of "external distraction."
I hereby propose a ban on tube tops.
And one other thing. The new study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and the University of North Carolina proves that the distraction of talking on a cell phone is nothing compared to the distraction of kids.Kids - let's face it - are frighteningly dangerous.Babies alone distract your average parent-cum-driver 8.4 times per hour, according to the new study."
http://winassem.blogspot.com/2006/12/carol-owens-and-cell-phones.html
Here is another related topic to Owens and Cell Phones:
One funny thing that did occur, however, was when I stood up to ask which anonymous Republican member of the assembly objected to funding for a position in the Dane County District Attorney’s office. While I was speaking, my cell phone went off. Dumb.
But State Rep. Carol Owens, one of the more conservative members of the GOP caucus, saw it as an opportunity to bash me. Carol, ah, doesn’t apparently like “gay” people. And to her, I’m one big homo. Carol won’t even ride the elevator with me. Too bad for Carol.
But she demanded an apology for the ringing of the cell phone, and asked that it be taken away from me while I’m on the floor. As she ranted and raved, I went to her desk and gave her my cell phone. Problem solved? Nope, instead she asked the Sergeants’ office staff to come and get the “gadget” from her desk. Gadget. You know you’re out of touch with your constituents and for that matter the 21st century, when a cell phone is a “gadget”. I have to wonder what she calls her computer.
Addendum: A few hours later GOP Rep. Phil Montgomery's cell phone went off on the Assembly floor. Owens was silent on the ringing of the gadget. At the very end of session, so did Democratic Rep. Jim Kreuser. Again, nothing from Owens.
http://markpocan.blogspot.com/2006/05/assembly-in-session-today-to-create.html
Labels: Carol Owens, Gordon Hintz
posted by Vincent at 9:09 PM
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