An unexpected problem arises as drivers comply with cellphone ban
CARSON CITY — Most Nevada drivers observed by the Nevada Highway Patrol over the weekend complied with the new state law banning motorists from texting and using hand-held cellphones.
So said NHP spokesman Chuck Allen about the law that went into effect Saturday.
But there was an unforeseen problem.
Many drivers now are pulling onto the shoulders of busy highways and even freeways to take or make cellphone calls, the trooper said.
He said the shoulders are meant for emergency uses only and pulling onto them could be dangerous for drivers, particularly at night.
Troopers hope drivers use good judgment and instead pull into parking lots or residential side streets to make calls, he said.
This potential problem never came up during legislative hearings on the cellphone bill in the spring.
There is nothing in the law about ticketing drivers who decide to pull onto a shoulder to make a call, but Allen said drivers should realize they could be struck by another vehicle and injured or even killed.
In fact, one of the primary activists for the law, Jenifer Watkins, was sitting in her car off a Las Vegas freeway in 2004 when a vehicle driven by a teenager using a cellphone struck her car. Watkins and her husband had stopped to help a friend whose car had broken down. Both suffered severe injuries.
“The shoulders are for bona fide emergencies,” Allen said.
Police also discovered over the weekend that some drivers did not know they are prohibited from using their cellphones at stoplights.
A section in the law states that motorists cannot use a cellphone or text “while operating a motor vehicle.” When a motorist is at a stoplight, the car is running and the driver is operating the car, Allen said.
“You can’t check your email or make a cell call at a stoplight,” he said.
Under the new law, police throughout Nevada can stop drivers and give them warnings if they see them texting or using a cellphone.
But on Jan. 1, police will start issuing $50 tickets for the first offense, $100 for the second and $250 for the third and subsequent offenses.
Yet these are not the only fines violators must pay. Mandatory state assessments and court fees are added. They can double the cost of a $50 ticket and add as much as $112 to a $250 ticket, the maximum basic fine.
The state’s mandatory assessment is $30, and the court administrative fees vary from county to county and even from city to city.
Police are pleased that most people are following the new law, Allen said. He saw only one person using a cellphone during a 496-mile trip between Mesquite and his home in Reno. Other officers told him they also noticed the public in general has been obeying the law.
But Allen said he and other troopers stopped five drivers who were texting within a half-hour in Reno as part of a TV news show. That was better than it was last week, he added.
Nevada is the ninth state to prohibit drivers from using hand-held cellphones and the 34th to outlaw texting by drivers.
Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.
