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Cellphone law forces drivers to go hands-free
The Advocate
Oregonians are receiving a short grace period before they are written tickets because of talking on their cell phones while driving.
The new hands-free law, which makes use of a cell phone while driving illegal as of Jan. 1, has now been in effect for two weeks and Multnomah County officers have allowed a short grace period before tickets will be written, according Mary Lindstrand, county public information officer.
What is surprising about the new law, according to Lindstrand, is the grace period the department is allowing before writing tickets.
“As of right now, (Wednesday) the Multnomah County Sheriff’s office has not issued any citations. We are allowing a short grace period but a ticket can still be written at the deputy’s discretion.”
It sounds as if most people have heard of the new law and have been asking a lot of questions, according to Oregon State Police Public Information Officer Gregg Hastings.
“We are having a high compliance rate,” he said. “A lot of people have been calling and asking questions about the law so I feel the word is out right now.”
According to Hastings, the state police is allowing a short grace period and also giving fair warnings about checkpoints where they are looking to catch people talking on their cell phones while driving.
“Right now are issuing three times as many warnings as tickets,” said Hastings. “We are also running checks and wanting people to know where we are checking.”
The State Police issued a radio message Wednesday morning on multiple stations saying the police is out on the highways looking to stop people on their cell phones.
Hastings said Wednesday, “We set up this morning on Marion and Linn County as well as Marion and Clackamas county borders. We are being very upfront about being out on the roads. We are trying to ease into it and it will always be area specific when we are checking. But we are letting people know when we are doing it.”
Many students are happy with the new law, even MHCC student Kevin Harper, who received a ticket for talking on the phone while driving New Year’s Day.
“Yeah, I got a ticket on January 1,” said Harper. “It was early that morning and I was on Fremont and a cop pulled me over. He came up and asked me if I knew why I got pulled over and I said, ‘I think I know why.’”
Even though Harper received the ticket, he still thinks the law is needed.
“I know how people drive while talking on their phones and it is scary. I am glad we have the law and that the ticket cost so much,” he said.
As the law sits, it is a primary offense, which means you can be pulled over for just talking on the phone. It is a class D penalty with a minimum fine of $142. With a high price to pay for the ticket, faculty member Jack Brook, a biology and life science instructor said simply, “I think it should be more. It is dangerous to drive while talking on a cell phone. I wish it would be more than that.”
The major problem that police officers have been facing is the exception within the law.
“If an individual is on the phone in his car and gets pulled over, if they say it is for work, the officer cannot give them a ticket because of the gray zone,” said Gresham Assistant City Attorney Heather Pauley. “Work is a loosely defined term and any individual can claim that to get out of the ticket.”
Another challenge officers face is people hiding their phones and texting, said Hastings.
“It is hard because sometime people put the phone below the window so we don’t see it or they have the phone on speaker in their hand. It is hard to spot because it is similar with the open container law. You can’t see the bottle or can in the cup holder but there are certain characteristics we watch for.”
Some things the police watch for, according to Hastings, are most people commit other violations such as running lights or stop signs.
“They also have trouble staying in lanes, driving excessively slow, hands not on the wheel and they are looking down a lot,” said Hastings. “We are doing what we can to spot it but it does present challenges to enforce the law.”
MHCC writing instructor Mary Kelly-Klein said, “I like the new law. I have never really talked on my phone unless in an emergency. I find it as a nice way to break away from reality and relieve my stress. It gives me a chance to de-program from life.”
But people are still talking on their phones while driving.
“I just saw it yesterday,” said Klein. “People are still doing it even though they are not supposed to be.”
Lindstrand said, “People are still doing it but it has definitely decreased.”
Hastings said, “We have had great compliance with the law. But pretty soon we will be coming down on it hard.”
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