Governor signs bill banning cell phone use by transit drivers

In September 2008, a commuter train in Los Angeles crashed head on with a freight train, killing 25 people. Phone records later revealed that the engineer had been sending and receiving text messages when the crash occured.


In May 2002, a coal train engineer failed to stop his train before it ran onto another track colliding head on with an intermodal train. The engineer of the intermodal train was killed. The coal train engineer had been talking on his cell phone.


In November 2004, a bus driver hit a 10-foot high bridge with his 12-foot high bus. Eleven students were injured, one of them seriously. The driver was talking on a hands-free cell phone.


In May 2009, 49 trolley passengers were injured when a trolley operator in Boston ran a red light and hit another trolley. He had been text messaging.
OKLAHOMA CITY – Under legislation recently signed into law, public transit drivers could face a misdemeanor charge and fine of $500 for using a cell phone on their routes.

State Rep. Harold Wright, the author of House Bill 2957, said his bill addresses the many dangerous uses of a cell phone while driving.

“There was concern about the use of cell phones by drivers even before the many features that exist today were added,” Wright, R-Weatherford, said. “Drivers can now become distracted while texting, searching the Internet, e-mailing, and using a number of other new features. Traffic collisions are one of the major causes of death in the United States, and public transit drivers hold too many lives in their hands to be focusing their attention on anything other than their jobs.”

Wright said school bus drivers are included in the definition of public transit driver.

“We want to know that our children will be safe on their way to and from school and at any other time they will be riding a school bus,” Wright said. “I also think a fine of $500 is an appropriate penalty. It is large enough to be a serious deterrent.”

Wright said that the bill complements House Bill 2276, another piece of legislation signed into law in April that will allow law enforcement to cite drivers who drive dangerously while using their cell phone, but prohibit them from initiating a traffic stop simply because a driver is also operating a cell phone.

“The roads are going to be a little safer in November, when these two laws take effects,” Wright said. “I believe this session has been very productive when it comes to driver safety laws.”

House Bill 2957 was signed into law May 6, 2010. It will go into effect on November 1, 2010.

Photo Credit: Poko0059 with permission via Creative Commons