City texting ban a bust?

CINCINNATI - Drive down just about any road at any time in Cincinnati and it's possible to see people texting while driving, something that's been equated to as dangerous as drinking and driving.

"There's no question texting while driving is a major distraction for drivers," said Cincinnati City Councilman Chris Bortz. "We see this nationally and there's lots of evidence and statistics to support this. Particularly for young people who don't understand what it means to be distracted from the wheel even for a split second."

To combat distracted driving, Bortz introduced a measure to ban texting and driving in Cincinnati a year ago. It passed and was put into effect in October. Since then, records show four people have been ticketed for the offense. Asked how he felt about that, Bortz said, "It's really discouraging that there's only been four citations so far. The whole point of this was to try to send a message to the community that texting and driving is a dangerous thing and the only way you can send the message is to enforce the law."

But enforcing that law isn't so easy. Lieutenant Bruce Hoffbauer, the Traffic Unit Coordinator for the Cincinnati Police Department, knows how dangerous distracted driving may be. But with an ordinance that allows for typing in a phone number, but not texting, it's hard to peer into a car and know what someone is really doing, according to Hoffbauer.

"Sometimes when you pull up beside a car, you can't see what they're doing," said Lt. Hoffbauer. "They could be straightening their pant leg, looking down at their phone if it's ringing. So, although we're riding next to somebody, you might not see what they're doing down below the steering wheel or down on the seat."

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that states like New York and Connecticut, which have had texting bans in place now for years, are seeing a drop in texting while driving. In fact, the NHTSA said Hartford, Connecticut has seen a 68 percent drop in texting while driving. Syracuse has seen a 42 percent drop.

By comparison, Cincinnati's law is in its infancy and, Lt. Hoffbauer said perhaps the low amount of tickets is a good sign.

"I look at it as maybe the message is getting out there and maybe the motoring public is paying attention and if there are something we need to do in the future to amend this in some way, then lawmakers will have to look at that in the future."