Caitlin PaceMarch 13, 2014

Paul Kelly, a former pizza delivery driver would be doing double or even triple orders

when his manager would text him that an order had been cancelled. Phone use while driving is

an essential component of this job, but beginning July 1, 2014, a task like this could cost up to

$50.

Gov. Susana Martinez signed a bill earlier this month to ban texting while driving in the

state. Enforcement of the ban is set to begin July 1, 2014. Martinez said that texting and driving

is the leading cause of death for teen drivers in New Mexico.

In addition to being a major safety problem, Virginia Tech Transportation Institute

released a study showing that texting while driving increases the likelihood of being involved in

a “critical safety issue” by 23 times.

A final report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released in 2011

showed that young drivers ages 18 to 20 have the highest number of self-reported crash or near

crash experiences. Drivers under the age of 25 were the highest age group to text while driving,

and one in five young drivers thought that texting made no difference on their driving

performance.

Texting and driving legislation had been in several past legislative sessions but never

made it past the committee. This year the legislation passed with an overwhelming majority. The

senate bill was co-sponsored by Sen. Peter Wirth and Sen. James E. Smith.

“I have personally experienced a number of drivers texting and seen how dangerous they

can be,” said Wirth on the importance of this bill. “Our law firm Sawtell, Wirth, and Biedscheild,

P.C. has also been involved in a case where a person died in an accident allegedly as the result of

a person texting and driving.”

Beginning this summer, drivers statewide can be charged $25 for the first offense and

$50 for each subsequent offense. The fine for a first offense is the same amount as the fine for

failure to wear a seatbelt. Wirth suggested the fines aren’t so much what will cause drivers to

comply, but rather the fact that a violation will appear on a person’s driving record.

“I do think it [appearing on the driving record] will be a deterrent,” said Wirth. “Making

the conduct illegal is what we were trying to accomplish. The general sentiment of the legislature

is that we do not want to lock people up for texting and driving, but we do want to send a signal

about how dangerous this conduct is, which I think the bill accomplishes.”

The bill defines driving as being in physical control of a motor vehicle and includes being

temporarily stopped at a stop sign or traffic light. Therefore, even checking your phone while at a

stop will be illegal when the ban takes effect.

One problem with the bill is that it does not allow law enforcement officers to check or

confiscate a phone from a driver, which has brought about questions on how officers will prove

in court that someone was texting while driving. An officer can however use lapel video to prove

a driver was texting.

The bill prohibits a person from composing a text message as well as viewing a received

message which would be problematic for delivery drivers like Kelly. Even if it had been illegal

at the time he was working as a delivery driver, Kelly doesn’t think he would have been able to

find a way around breaking the law.

“If you are told an order is cancelled through text it saves you time and money,” Kelly

said.

Additionally, delivery drivers must engage in other job tasks that involve using a phone

while driving, including using GPS features and calling customers to verify the address, both of

which require utilizing the keypad of the phone as well as taking your eyes off the road.

Wirth said the current law prevents a person from using a handheld device for any

purpose, including emails, internet searches and GPS. It does permit drivers to engage in these

activities using a headset or voice command.

Pizza chains and other delivery based employers may have to look into this type of hands

free technology for their delivery vehicles in the near future, because the need for

communication with their employees will always be around.

“It really is a phone based job nowadays,” said Kelly. “Without having a cell phone there

really isn’t a reliable means to communicate outside the store. I suppose pizza delivery in the old

days was harder to do without the communication we have today.”