“Anyone can drive down the road and look to their left or right and see somebody of any age watching video, texting a friend, it’s just a daily occurrence.
You’re behind the wheel, stopped at a red light; you’ve got about 30 seconds to kill. Next to you, often just inches away, your cellphone beckons. Your car isn’t moving, so what the harm in firing off a quick text or checking your email, right? In fact, it could cost you plenty.
Drivers in Washington State caught holding a cellphone or any other electronic device while stopped at a red light or intersection will be subject to a $136 fine under Washington’s strict new “E-DUI” law. The fine for repeat offenses within five years is $234.
“The $136 ticket you get is going to be nothing compared to the insurance consequences,” said Gordon Fox, who works at 2Pass Defensive Driving School Inc. in Gilbert Arizona. It’s only a matter of time before law is adopted in other states.
It’s exactly what Fox said insurance companies are banking on, quite literally. If you have seen Dan Simon’s “Invisible Gorilla” you will understand how the insurance industry is losing big, in the personal auto insurance industry and they’re reeling, trying to find out how to find out how to solve the problem.
Fox said insurance companies lobbied to get distracted driving laws as a primary offense so they can charge more for premiums. The fact that the distracted driving ticket is a primary infraction and will go on your driving record is what Fox said most of her clients do not know.
“This is the new drunk driving,” he said. “The insurance agency industry has actually notated this as a DUIE or driving under the influence of electronics.”
In 2015, 171 deaths were from distracted driving in Washington — a 30 percent increase from the previous year.
In 2016, the Washington State Patrol had more than 13,000 contacts with motorists for cellphone use while driving and more than 3,300 contacts for texting while driving. Overall, troopers issued more than 9,000 distracted driving-related citations.
People who text while behind the wheel have a 23 percent higher chance of causing a crash, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Those are roughly the same odds as someone who’s had four beers and decides to drive.