2009 House Bill 4370: Ban driving while "texting"

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Public Act 58 of 2010

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Introduced by Rep. Gino Polidori (D) on February 19, 2009, to establish that no “points” would be attached to a persons drivers license for violating the ban proposed by House Bill 4394 on "texting" while driving.
- Referred to the House Transportation Committee on February 19, 2009.
  - Reported in the House on October 22, 2009, with the recommendation that the substitute (H-2) be adopted and that the bill then pass.
- Substitute offered in the House on December 8, 2009, to replace the previous version of the bill with one that revises details but does not change the substance of the bill as previously described. The substitute passed by voice vote in the House on December 8, 2009.
Passed 105 to 2 in the House on December 8, 2009.
Who Voted "Yes" and Who Voted "No"
Received in the Senate on December 9, 2009.
- Referred to the Senate Transportation Committee on December 9, 2009.
  - Reported in the Senate on February 24, 2010, with the recommendation that the substitute (S-1) be adopted and that the bill then pass.
- Substitute offered in the Senate on March 18, 2010, to replace the previous version of the bill with one that revises details but does not change the substance as previously described. The substitute passed by voice vote in the Senate on March 18, 2010.
Passed 27 to 11 in the Senate on March 25, 2010, to establish that no “points” would be attached to a persons drivers license for violating the ban proposed by House Bill 4369 on "texting" while driving, which the Senate made a "primary" offence (a driver can get pulled over just for this).
Who Voted "Yes" and Who Voted "No"
Received in the House on March 25, 2010.
Passed 101 to 6 in the House on April 20, 2010, to concur with the Senate-passed version of the bill, which along with House Bill 4394 makes "texting while driving" a primary offence (a driver can get pulled over just for this).
Who Voted "Yes" and Who Voted "No"
Signed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm on April 30, 2010.

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1) Re: 2009 House Bill 4370 (Ban driving while using hand-held cell phone ) by Lex87 on March 29, 2010

The TV show Mythbusters did a test and proved that talking on a cell
phone while driving is unsafe and is destracting for the driver.

I
personally can't seee that any conversation is important enought that
we can't wait to pull over and call the person back. If you are on the interstate and there isn't somewhere to pull off close by then oh well! A car is a dangerous machine our focus should be on driving it.

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2) Re: 2009 House Bill 4370 (Ban driving while using hand-held cell phone ) by FreeSpeaker on March 27, 2010

[quote user="albaby2"]

I agree with both the texting and cell phone bans-but have a question. If you are on an interstate highway, you can't pull off to the shoulder to conduct the conversation-it's against the law-so you're damned if you do and damned if you don't.

[/quote]

That "question" (actually an argumentative statement) is nonsense. It overlooks the indisputable fact that you have a choice and full control over the decsion as to whether or not you will converse by cell phone or texting while driving down any road.

I have two objections to this legislation as it now stands.

One, the "no license points" provision in the passed Senate version knocks a lot of the enforcement teeth out of the proposed law.

Second, there is no provision for generating revenues to fund enforcement of this bill if it ultimately becomes law. Without funding, it would/will receive the usual sub-par enforcement. Good enforcement is a key to improving on-the-road safety. So, this is "just another law" on the books to punish drivers after the fact
of a crash.

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3) Re: 2009 House Bill 4370 (Ban driving while using hand-held cell phone ) by albaby2 on March 27, 2010

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