The proposal from Asm. Wisniewski isn't perfect, but some scoffed at seat belts and prohibitions on cell phones. Watch video
With startling clarity, the statistics issued Tuesday by the National Safety Council showed that too many people are dying from preventable accidents.
Traffic fatalities are up 9 percent in the first six months of 2016, and up 11 percent in New Jersey. That follows an 8 percent increase nationally in 2015, the largest spike in a half-century, and many safety experts say distractions are responsible for this grim trend.
So you would think that any effort to make roads safer would be applauded, but a proposal reprised from 2013 by Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex) that would impose fines and possible license suspensions for distracted driving has been met with widespread disdain.
One radio deep thinker suggested that the lawmaker "resign immediately" for engaging in trivialities. Steve Fulop mocked the proposal on Facebook as "embarrassing" because Trenton was not "tackling the most important issues facing NJ," though he seems to think social media taunts are a parliamentary priority.
To recap their arguments: Even though the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) tells us that 3,179 died (and 431,000 hurt) in crashes caused by distracted driving in 2014, it's imprudent for someone to do something about it because some rogue cops might get ticket-crazy.
True, that particular objection isn't so farfetched.
We already have laws that prohibit texting or cell-phone use without a hands-free devise. But this bill "prohibits a driver from engaging in any activity" unrelated to operating the vehicle, and it requires the cop to record "the specific nature of the distracted driving behavior."
That's a wide strike zone. Can the driver chat with a passenger? Sing along with the radio? Reach for a French fry? Enter a state of catatonia listening to Rush Limbaugh?
But Wisniewski isn't wrong, either, when he says cops won't slap drivers with $200 penalties for nose-picking, because they won't want to defend it in court.
As his bill heads for committee, however, these are good reasons to continue the discussion.
Wisniewski believes the cops should get wide discretion, but it seems that we're asking cops to make decisions based a driver's state of mind. If there are no objective elements (swerving, crossing over a line), how would a cop know whether a driver is distracted by his burrito supreme?
There is a wide set of undefined behaviors that should not merit a ticket, Wisniewski concedes. But he returns to the main issue: There is too much dangerous behavior - applying makeup, reading newspapers, etc. - that turns cars into a two-ton missiles, and this should be about gradually changing a culture.
"I'm not saying it's the best idea," he said, "But distracted driving stats are up, and we should address it rather than lampoon it because you think someone wants to take away your cup of joe."
His intentions are good. And timely: The safety council estimates that 438 will die on the road during Labor Day weekend, the worst toll since 2008. As NSC president Deborah Hersman put it, "Our complacency is killing us."
Complacency should not be an option, and as with any epidemic, distracted driving deserves attention - if not a fix - from the Legislature.
More: Recent Star-Ledger editorials.
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