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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Josh Shapiro |
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New poll shows Pennsylvanians support Shapiro’s efforts
to ban hand-held cell phones while driving
HARRISBURG, March 25 – Rep. Josh Shapiro, D-Montgomery, today added a new Franklin & Marshall College poll to a long list of studies and surveys showing support for Shapiro’s bill to ban the use of hand-held cell phones while driving. According to the poll, 71 percent of Pennsylvanians favor a law against the use of hand-held cell phones while driving.
In the survey, released today by Franklin & Marshall’s Center for Opinion Research and Floyd Institute for Public Policy, respondents were asked if they favored or opposed making it against the law to use a hand-held cell phone while driving. Seventy one percent of Pennsylvanians favor a ban and, of that group, more than 54 percent strongly favor a ban.
"Since I first introduced this bill, I have received hundreds of e-mails and phone calls from citizens all across Pennsylvania in support of my efforts to ban the use of hand-held cell phones while driving," Shapiro said. "It is clear from this poll that Pennsylvanians by a large margin want us to end this dangerous driver distraction."
Shapiro has been advocating for the passage of a hand-held cell phone ban while driving since 2006. Last month Shapiro reintroduced legislation, H.B. 538, with 73 co-sponsors.
Studies from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Virginia Tech, Carnegie Mellon and the University of Utah have all shown that drivers who talk on their cell phones are three to four times more like to be involved in a crash. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, hand-held cell phones contributed to 1,245 crashes on Pennsylvania roadways in 2007. In contrast, there were 56 crashes on the state’s roadways attributed to hands-free cell phones during the same year.
A study by the Public Policy Institute of California found that states that enacted hand-held cell phone bans while driving saw traffic fatalities decrease between 9 percent and 21 percent after the ban went into effect. With 1,491 traffic fatalities in Pennsylvania in 2007, a ban on hand-held cell phones could save up to 313 lives on the Commonwealth’s roadways. California, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Utah and Washington, and the District of Columbia have already enacted bans.
House Bill 538 would ban the use of hand-held cell phones while driving on all public roads in Pennsylvania. Exceptions would be provided for law enforcement officers, drivers of mass transit vehicles, operators of emergency vehicles when on duty, or motorists who are reporting a traffic accident or are making a 511 or 911 emergency call. A violation would be a summary offense and, upon conviction, a person would be required to pay a $50 fine. There would be no points assessed to a driver who violates this law.
The Franklin & Marshall study can be read at www.fandm.edu/fandmpoll.
Shapiro is a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and represents the 153rd Legislative District in Montgomery County. For more information about Shapiro, please visit www.pahouse.com/Shapiro.
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