For the second part of his series, Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen reports on how and why the law is so much tougher for Ohio minors. Click the play button above to hear his report.

Legislators passed the measure in the spring, and it will impact adult and teen drivers differently. For the first part of a two-part series, Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen looks at what the law will mean for adults. Click the play button above to hear his report.

The House voted 82-12 to pass the bill. The Senate previously approved it, and Gov. John Kasich is expected to sign it.

All drivers would be banned from texting, though young drivers could more easily be pulled over for it.

The bill would make texting a secondary offense for adults. That means drivers could be ticketed for typing messages only if they were first pulled over for another offense, such as running a red light.

According to the Governors Highway Safety Association, the measure would be among the nation’s broadest in terms of teen distracted driving restrictions. The organization says texting while driving is already prohibited in 38 states.

An estimated 75 people showed up to bolster the bill, which would make it a minor misdemeanor to text while driving.

The proposal’s sponsors were joined by representatives of central Ohio police departments, local politicians and the daughter of a man killed when he was hit by a texting driver.

Under the bill, a violation would be punishable by a fine of up to $150. The measure would allow for a motorist to be stopped for texting alone.

If it becomes law, Ohio would join 34 states in banning texting while driving.

Delaware Patrol Post Sgt. Lance Shearer said 19-year-old Rachael Woodruff was killed as she exited the I-71 rest stop south of the Route 36 interchange. Shearer said her car was T-boned by a northbound driver who crossed three lanes of southbound traffic.

“He became distracted by his cellphone, lost control of his vehicle,” Shearer said. “His vehicle went across the center median and then across all three lanes of the southbound Interstate 71 traffic.”

Shearer said the driver, 32-year-old Joshua Morris was released at the scene. No charges have been filed pending further investigation. Woodruff died after being transported to Grant Medical Center in Columbus.

Prosecutors say, last July, Daniel Jacobs was sending a text message while driving on Interstate 270 when his car drifted into the right shoulder and collided with another vehicle, killing 16-year-old Daniel Ludwig and injuring his driving instructor.

The ordinance would prohibit drivers from text messaging or using cell phones to surf the web. Worthington spokeswoman Ann Brown says the proposed ordinance was drawn up by the city’s legal department to safeguard the users of city streets.

“Primarily we see this as a safety issue,” Brown says. “We want to make sure that all people who drive, walk, ride their bikes, and travel through the city of Worthington in any way are safe from distracted drivers.” One member of the seven-member Worthington city council says he thinks the proposed ordinance doesn’t go far enough. Dave Norstrom is quoted as saying the use of cell phones should be banned entirely while driving.

Two months ago New Albany passed a ban on texting. Police Chief Mark Chaney says it’s unlikely that the village would ban talking on cell phones while driving. But Chaney says texting is a different matter.

“The problems that I think have made texting and e-mailing a specific problem is that people’s heads are down, in their laps, or off to the sides, in their right or left hand that’s holding the device. And they’re not looking up through the windshield and they’re not looking at the traffic ahead, and they’re not paying attention to what they’re doing,” Chaney says.

Under the Worthington ordinance, the fine for a first offense would be $150.

Moritz College of Law associate professor Ric Simmons says if a driver is violating the traffic code by texting at the time of an accident,

that violation might be used to increase liability in both civil and criminal cases

Simmons says two dozen states already ban texting while driving. The Ohio House has approved a measure to enact a ban statewide. The Senate has yet to act on the measure.

I would not call myself a chronic texter. I maybe send five messages a day and overall I have managed to avoid using text shorthand, such as substituting the letters, J K for the phrase, just kidding. I nonetheless find myself intrigued by the recent legislative efforts to ban text messaging while driving. The proposed measure, which has been approved by the Ohio House would ban most text messaging while operating a vehicle. The bill got me thinking, not just about my own texting habits but also about what we as a society deem appropriate and inappropriate behaviors while driving.

Clearly, what you do inside a vehicle is not considered private. We have laws limiting what types of behaviors are allowable. For instance, we think drinking alcohol before or while operating a vehicle is an inappropriate behavior. And, I would agree that anything that can impair my reaction time or cause me to sing Celine Dion karaoke should be avoided while driving a 4,000 pound machine. Yet while texting messaging behind the wheel is irresponsible and should be avoided, It is false to claim that texting is more dangerous than other activities people do in their cars.

I have passed countless vehicles during my morning commute in which I see drivers using both hands to tie a tie, or using the rearview mirror to apply mascara. Once, I even saw a woman teasing her hair. I admit to pillaging through my purse, head bent and eyes diverted from the road, in order to find my lip gloss. Its pretty obvious that any of these actions distract drivers. Yet, we do not have laws banning them. So, why text messaging?

If people want to stop drivers from being distracted, should we not also consider banning anything that takes our hands away from the ten and two positions? A recent Dispatch article quotes someone as saying that if people knew that text messaging while driving was illegal they would be more likely to stop. But, speeding is illegal and yet so many Ohio drivers set their cruise controls above 65. Merging without signaling is illegal and yet everyday I find myself shouting profanities at some driver who cut me off without using a left blinker.

Texting while driving certainly is not equal to speeding, merging without signaling, or even eating a sloppy fast food burger at the wheel. Yet the argument that it is more dangerous because of its inherent distracting nature does not hold ground, in my opinion. I am sympathetic to people who have been injured, or lost a loved one because of a distracted driver. But, before Ohio joins 19 other states in banning text messaging while driving we should take a moment to evaluate are car culture.

While banning text messaging may prevent some accidents, it definitely will not fix the problem of distracted drivers. Perhaps if we returned to thinking of driving as a responsibility rather than an obligation people would be more likely to evaluate their own distracting habits rather than place blame on texters. Doing so might cause us to think about why we engage in irresponsible behaviors in the first place. But then again this is all just IMO, in my opinion.

Columbus council member Andrew Ginther says too many drivers are putting others at risk when they text behind the wheel.

“So its time for the largest city in the state of Ohio to take action on this issue that’s affecting everybody’s safety.”

But the scope of the problem of texting while driving is hard to measure.

“We don’t have statistics that tell us exactly how big a problem it is.”

Nancie Bechtel, Executive Director of Central Ohio Trauma System, keeps track of motor vehicle crash injuries and deaths. But, she says its uncertain how much trauma is a direct result of texting while driving.

“Even on state crash report forms previously there has not been any dedicated field that says this driver was texting when they crashed. And a lot of times even when drivers are asked if they were texting they say no because they know it wasn’t the right thing to do.” Says Bechtel.

Still, Bechtel says texting while driving is a serious problem. She cites larger studies from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that count 500,000 injured and 6,000 dead in crashes involving distracted drivers who were using cellphones. In crafting Columbus proposed texting while driving ban, Council member Ginther says a generational trend also surfaces.

“What we’ve continued to see in studies nationally and in other parts of the country is that this puts some of our youngest, most inexperienced drivers at greatest risk because of the access and usage of cellphones and blackberries and texting.” Says Ginther.

Even though the toll of texting while driving is still being quantified. Ginther and others say its just common sense to ban the practice. Bechtel says texting is much more of a distraction than eating a sandwich while driving or carrying on a conversation.

“When you’re texting you actually have to take your eyes off the road, focus your eyes on a screen. It involves different areas again of use of the brain.” Bechtel says. “So its more of a mind off the road, plus your eyes are off the road for a longer period of time. Plus when you throw in the cortical motor activity of actually using your fingers to do the texting it’s a much higher brain activities than other forms of distraction.”

So what will Columbus’ proposed ordinance ban?

“This is primarily going to be an electronic hand-held device where you would be texting back and forth or reading or sending e-mails back and forth.”

Council member Ginther says, if approved as written the texting while driving ban will be a primary offense in Columbus meaning officers can pull over and cite a driver if they observe him or her texting. The proposed fine is $150. While Columbus considers its ban several other Central Ohio cities are also proposing such bans. Bexley banned texting while driving late last year. But, so far, mayor John Brennan says not one citation has been written.

Tom Borgerding

WOSU News