Idaho is closer to a statewide ban on cellphone use while driving. Fines could be $75
The Idaho Senate voted 30-5 to pass a distracted driving bill Tuesday, bringing Idaho one step closer to a statewide ban on cellphone use while driving.
Senate Bill 1314 would prohibit drivers from using their phones for calling, texting or other things — even while stopped in traffic or while waiting at a light. Drivers would be allowed to use their phone for navigation, but also would be banned from typing the address into the phone while driving.
First-time offenders would receive a $75 ticket, while the fine for a second offense within a three-year period would increase to $150.
“At highway speeds, just a single text message can take a driver’s eyes off the road for more than the length of a football field,” Sen. Janie Ward-Engelking, D-Boise, said in a Tuesday press release.
The cities of Boise, Meridian, Pocatello, Ketchum and Idaho Falls already have adopted similar distracted driving laws. If passed, the state law would supersede the patchwork of local and city laws and expand the ban on cellphone use statewide.
The Senate bill will be sent to the House Transportation committee next and would need to be approved by the full House. If the bill makes it through the full legislative process, it would go into effect July 1. However, law enforcement could only issue warnings until Jan. 1, 2021.
What distracted driving laws are already in place in Idaho?
Meridian Republican and House Transportation committee chairman Joe Palmer introduced a similar measure in January, but the bill has stalled in committee. Palmer also proposed the creation of a transportation endowment fund from which interest generated would be used to help pay for Idaho’s backlog of transportation projects.
In 2012, the Idaho Legislature voted to ban drivers from texting while driving, but that law does not bar drivers from using their cellphones entirely. A statewide law that would have created stricter regulations was introduced in the Idaho Senate during the 2018 session but was ultimately killed after lawmakers deemed it an “overreach.”
In October, Meridian became the first city in the Treasure Valley to pass an ordinance prohibiting the use of cellphones when driving and began issuing tickets at the beginning of 2020. Boise City Council followed suit a few months later, but officers will only be giving warnings until July 1. Tickets in those cities costs $90 plus court costs.
This story was originally published February 25, 2020 at 3:53 PM.
