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Death Prompts Calls For Cell Phone Legislation

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Dec 3, 2008 7:34 pm US/Mountain

Death Prompts Calls For Cell Phone Legislation

Reporting
Terry Jessup
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (CBS4) ― The death of an elementary school student in Fort Collins has renewed debate about banning drivers from using cell phones.

According to the Governors Highway Safety Association, only five states ban hand-held cell phones for all drivers. No state completely bans all cells, but many ban cell use for certain drivers. That includes Colorado, where cell phone use is banned by anyone with a learner's permit.

Recent studies have shown that more than 220 million people in the U.S. now have cell phones, and up to 80 percent of them use them while they're driving.

Very few people will say there wasn't at least one time when using a cell phone while driving nearly caused them to have an accident.

"I'm just particularly heartbroken about this accident that occurred in my district here," Colorado Rep. Randy Fischer said about the death of 9-year-old Erica Forney.

Forney was riding her bicycle a half block from her Fort Collins home. Police said the 36-year-old female driver of an SUV had been talking on her cell phone moments before the crash and drifted into the bicycle lane where Forney was riding home from school.

"The major problem with cell phones is they distract us mentally," Drew Jurofsky with Fort Collins police said. "Our minds can only handle one task at a time."

"That's the big issue. Your eyes can be on the road, but if your mind is not on the road, then it becomes a real traffic safety hazard," Fischer said.

Fischer says when the Colorado legislature reconvenes in January, he'll seek to change the current law that has no restrictions on cell phones and driving for fully-licensed adults.

"I've received a number of emails from people just basically indicating that this is the time to take action," Fischer said.

A recent study in Utah indicated that talking on a cell phone while driving is just as dangerous as driving under the influence and that both acts made drivers four times more likely to become involved in an accident.

The same University of Utah study indicated that drivers talking on a cell phone were far more distracted than drivers actually having a conversation with someone in their vehicle.

Lawmakers have tried to pass more stringent cell phone driving laws in the past at the state legislature, but they always got shot down.
 
Fort Collins police and the Larimer County District Attorney's Office are still considering what charges will be filed against the driver of the SUV that killed Forney.

(© MMIX CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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