Too many distractions make our roads dangerous

Efforts to improve highway safety continue to be the driving force with some state lawmakers.

Alaska is one of 19 states, along with the District of Columbia, that bans all text messaging on cell phones while driving and, if Rep. Mike Doogan, D-Anchorage, has his way, we’ll soon become the state with the most restrictive cell phone driving laws.

If approved by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Sean Parnell, Doogan’s House Bill 257 would make any use of a cell phone illegal, including hands-free use. To date, only six states — California, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington — prohibit using a hand-held cell phone. Another proposed law, HB 15 by Rep. Berta Gardner, D-Anchorage, would make using cell phones by minors while driving illegal, a step 21 other states have already taken.

While we appreciate the message behind each of these bills — that fewer cell phones in use on our roads will mean fewer accidents — they are indicative of only one symptom of a much larger and more dangerous problem. Distracted driving.

Especially as technology has advanced, the potential for cell phones to be a distraction for many drivers is multiplied. Instead of simply answering and talking on the phone, phones have become a primary source for music, surfing the Internet, getting e-mail and texting. Along with other activities that cause drivers to be distracted, the Alaska Highway Safety Office reports that driver inattention factors into an estimated 28 percent of all traffic-related accidents in our state.

That’s a startling statistic, but not all cell-phone related. There are many other distractions that make our Valley commutes more dangerous every day; applying make-up while driving, changing out radio stations and CDs and, of course, a carload of kids can be the most distracting.

With all these other activities that take our attention from the road, we hardly need cell phones added to the mix. But we don’t live in a Utopian world; cell phones are here, they’re not going anywhere, and people are going to use them.

We appreciate the spirit of Doogan’s HB 257, but simply banning all forms of cell-phone use, including hands-free, goes a little too far. Hands-free is far less distracting that having to hold a phone to your ear and take a hand off the wheel and can make talking on your cell phone no more of a distraction than having a conversation with passengers in your vehicle.

We also agree with Gardner’s proposal to ban cell phone use by minors. In a state where an estimated 10-12 vehicle crashes a day are in some part caused by driver inattention, those who are the least experienced should have fewer distractions. Some states, like Colorado, also limit the number of persons who can be in a vehicle that’s driven by a minor.

Alaska has taken the first step in banning texting while driving. The next logical step is to expand that to include minor drivers and limit cell-phone use to hands-free.