Inquirer Editorial: Driving would be safer by banning all phone use

One year after it took effect, Pennsylvania's driver texting ban is proving to be just as toothless a highway safety measure as expected.

Across the entire state, only 1,302 tickets for texting while driving were issued by police last year. In Philadelphia, the city's thousands of motorists were uncharacteristically well behaved: They warranted only 243 citations.

With so few motorists cited for texting, it might be that the incidence of accidents triggered by distracted driving also plummeted. But there's certainly no sign of that trend materializing.

In fact, the notion that drivers almost universally steered clear of texting once Gov. Corbett signed the ban into law in late 2011 is worthy of a sad-faced emoticon or LOL text message.

More drivers who are still texting may yet come to their senses about this deadly practice.

Along with other behind-the-wheel distractions, texting contributes to some 5,500 highway deaths annually, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Little wonder: As noted by AAA Mid-Atlantic, looking down at a cellphone to compose and send a message is like driving blindfolded.

As it's now structured, though, the state's ban looks unlikely to be the catalyst for any wholesale retreat from texting by Keystone State motorists.

One major problem with the ban is that it's difficult to enforce, for the simple reason that Harrisburg lawmakers refused to include a ban on drivers talking on handheld cellphones.

Without banning handheld devices - as New Jersey and several other states have done - it's not easy for traffic cops to determine whether motorists are dialing a legal call or tapping out an illegal text.

There was a concerted push for a Jersey-style law, but Pennsylvania's texting ban emerged as a minimalist, feel-good alternative from a Republican-controlled, regulation-averse legislature.

Worse, the state law revoked Philadelphia's handheld ban, which had been in force since 2009 and had led to 31,000 drivers being cited.

Pennsylvania's ban amounts to feel-good legislation that's potentially dangerous.

A prime mover in the legislative debate, State Sen. Robert M. Tomlinson (R., Bucks), has suggested lawmakers may revisit whether to bar drivers from talking on handheld cell phones.

With the minimal impact of the texting ban now apparent, it's clearly time for Tomlinson to move ahead on that front.

Federal highway officials some time ago recommended a complete ban on cellphone use by drivers, responding to convincing research that shows it's the phone conversation - even on a hands-free device - that poses the greatest danger in distracting drivers. While some European nations have taken that step, there's clearly no consensus for such a move in this country.

Pending the arrival of cars equipped with phone-jamming technology - actually, now under study - Pennsylvanians should be required by law to always put down their phones when they head out into traffic.