Thursday, July 24, 2014
HOT TOPICS:
§ Iowa's Texting-While-Driving ban not reducing crashes, hard to enforce
§ New Jersey GDL requirements are not delaying teen licensure
§ Nevada man upset over missing vehicle registration sticker
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Iowa's Texting-While-Driving ban not reducing crashes, hard to enforce
Pilot Tribune
Iowa's Texting-While-Driving ban not reducing crashes, hard to enforce
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
By SARAH HADLEY Produced by IowaWatch.org, the independent, non-profit news organization of the Iowa Center of Public Affairs Journalism
Iowa's law banning texting while driving is failing to reduce road crashes, and officers seldom enforce it because of legal restrictions, an IowaWatch investigation shows.
Although texting-related crashes have been on the rise in recent years, Iowa convicted an average of only 2.5 drivers per county for texting last year, the investigation revealed.
Crash history reports from the Iowa Department of Transportation show that since the Iowa Legislature enacted it in July 2011, the law has done nothing to decrease cell-phone related crashes. Instead, the number of crashes has increased steadily.
The problem is worse than the statistics show because distracted driving often is not reported properly when a crash occurs.
In this investigation, IowaWatch examined state laws, traffic reports, studies and crash data for Iowa and other states and interviewed visual attention specialists, traffic safety officials, experts, statisticians, legislators and law enforcement officers.
"Texting while driving has become ubiquitous," said Mark Lowe, director of the Iowa DOT's Motor Vehicle Division.
Data for 2013 remain preliminary, but already show the highest number of phone-related crashes since 2009.
While other states have passed strict bans on all handheld phone use, Iowa legislators have debated but failed to pass a law that would make texting behind the wheel a primary offense, for which an officer needs no other reason to pull you over.
Iowa's law inhibits enforcement by classifying the act as a secondary offense. This means law enforcement officers cannot execute a traffic stop unless the driver has committed some other violation, even if they spot a driver texting.
"It's like dipping your toe in the water instead of throwing everybody in the pool," state Sen. Tod Bowman, D-Maquoketa, said. Bowman, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, voted for the bill to increase texting enforcement and said he was disappointed when the House didn't take it up.
Almost all states have a law banning texting while driving, but only four do not enforce them as a primary offense: Iowa, Nebraska, Ohio and Florida.
Iowa law prohibits the use of an electronic communication device to send, receive or read a text message or email while driving. The charge is a simple misdemeanor that comes with a fine of $30. The law does not apply to operating a GPS or entering a telephone number, which distraction specialists say carry the same increased risk.
Distracted or inattentive driving involving a cell phone has accounted for more than 7,000 crashes statewide in the past decade. In that time, it has taken the lives of 24 Iowans.
Allison Smith, a 17-year-old Stacyville, student, became one of those numbers in November 2011 on her way home from school when her car plowed beneath a stopped school bus as she was texting on a phone.
She probably never saw the bus. Phone records and video from the school bus show Allison texting just before impact on Highway 218 just east of St. Ansgar, Iowa. Crash investigators with the Iowa State Patrol later determined from airbag data that no braking happened. The driver and 21 children on the school bus escaped without injury.
"She always had a smile on her face," said Allison's mother, Lesa Smith, who works as a cook at an assisted living facility. Lesa's husband, Paul, is a farmer on the family's farm in Stacyville.
Your typical high school girl, as Lesa Smith describes her, Allison was involved in school sports like volleyball and basketball. She kept stats for St. Ansgar Community High School's football team. She loved horses -- especially her own, Penny -- and was close with her older brother, Cole. Friends called her Ally.
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New Jersey GDL requirements are not delaying teen licensure
Atlantic Highlands Herald
New Jersey GDL Requirements are Not Delaying Teen Licensure
Written by AAA Mid-Atlantic
Published: 23 July 2014
HAMILTON, NJ - A recent AAA study of teen drivers in New Jersey found that the rate of licensure has remained steady from 2006-2011, as new Graduate Driver License (GDL) provisions were implemented.
The AAA Foundation for Safety study was part of a larger study of multiple states, but focused on New Jersey, which is the only state to extend restrictions until the age of 21. Despite concerns that additional restrictions would delay teens from getting their license, the study found that socio-economic factors were greater concerns when it came to delays.
“These results show that teens will continue to get their licenses, regardless of new GDL requirements. Teens and their parents understand that this is a learning period for their children and that the requirements are part of that process,” Tracy Noble, spokesperson for AAA Mid-Atlantic said.
Compared with the results of a nationally-representative 2013 AAA Foundation study, New Jersey is in line with the rest of the country insofar as economic considerations appear to be the prevailing influence on licensure decisions. However, evidence at the national level of a drop in teen licensure is not reflected in the New Jersey data, at least not over the past five years.
Some key findings included:
• 40 percent of all residents were licensed within one month of New Jersey’s minimum age (17)
• 64% licensed by 18th birthday, 74% by 19th, 78% by 20th, and 81% by 21st
• Socioeconomic measures had the biggest impact on licensing rates:
• 65% licensed within 1 month of eligibility in the highest-income zip codes, compared with 13% in lowest-income zip codes
• This corroborates national-level findings from 2013 AAA Foundation survey
• Data indicate that rate and timing of licensure in NJ has been essentially stable between 2006 and 2011. While the AAAFTS national survey did not examine this time period specifically, it did find evidence of a steep licensure decline: whereas about two-thirds of teens were licensed by age 18, two decades ago, barely half were in 2012.
While New Jersey has increased GDL restrictions in a number of areas, it is one of only four states that does not require practice hours prior to full licensure. The results of this study prove that the restrictions do not create large impediments to obtaining a license.
“AAA calls on the New Jersey Senate to move quickly to move quickly to pass A-1699 to ensure that our teens are provided with the proper tools and practice needed to be safe drivers,” Noble said.
A-1699 would expand supervised driving requirements, increasing the phase to one year and require a parent-teen orientation prior to the start of the supervised driving phase. This orientation would provide teen drivers and their parents with tools to ensure that the supervised driving period is mutually beneficial, provide a better understanding of the GDL laws and offer tips for how to teach teens the skills needed.
A recent AAA study found that an overwhelming majority of New Jersey motorists’ support passage of these restrictions.
Time and time again, AAA studies have found that parents are looking for tools to make them better teachers during this phase of their teen’s lives. A-1699 provides these resources to them, through an orientation to answer any questions parents may have.
A-1699 will ensure that teens and parents are equipped with the necessary tools during the learning phase. And will require adequate behind-the-wheel time to prepare them for a lifetime of safe driving.
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Nevada man upset over missing vehicle registration sticker
KTNV
Driver upset over missing vehicle registration sticker
By Michael Lopardi. CREATED Jul 23, 2014
Henderson, NV (KTNV) -- A Henderson driver is upset with the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles after he said he never received his new registration sticker in the mail.
Michael Covington wants other drivers to learn from his experience.
"It's five bucks. Whatever. It's the principle of the thing where I'm having to pay again for something I never received," said Covington.
A trip to the DMV usually requires some sitting and waiting. Covington wanted to avoid the lines so he went online in late June to renew the registration for his 2001 GMC Sierra truck. The process is fairly straight forward.
"Go online. Click on it. It shows up in the mail in three or four days," Covington said.
But after two weeks, Covington said the new sticker never arrived in his mailbox. The DMV said they mailed the new one but it's unclear what happened to it. On top of that, Covington discovered he would have to purchase a replacement for $5.
"It's more of the principle," Covington said. "Don't charge me for something I already paid for."
Nevada law requires the stickers be current and displayed on license plates. Covington worries the sticker could end up in the wrong hands and on the wrong license plate.
"If they're going to send out something in the mail, maybe they should put a tracking number on it," said Covington.
Once the sticker is in the mail, it's out of the DMV's control, said agency spokesman Kevin Malone.
"You never really know what's going to happen to a piece of mail like that," said Malone. "It could've been stuck to something else. It could've been thrown away."
Malone said the DMV only receives a handful of similar complaints.
More than two million vehicles are registered in Nevada as of July 1, Malone said. The office issued 28,000 duplicate stickers in the last fiscal year; however, the DMV doesn't track why drivers request new stickers so it's unclear how many may be lost in the mail. Registration renewal is the most common transaction for the agency, Malone said.
While the DMV sends some items through certified mail, like a license suspension notice, it's not financially feasible to send all mail like that, Malone said.
"To do some kind of tracking through the post office would be very expensive," Malone said.
Drivers can obtain the stickers in person at the DMV office or through kiosks. At the end of the day, the law requires drivers to display current stickers.