Road Watch…Jan. 31…
The nearly unanimous state House vote of 189-6 last week on a bill banning talking/texting on handheld cell phones while driving was nothing to sneeze at.
Even Rep. Greg Vitali, who doesn’t believe talking while driving under the influence of conversation (DUIC) usually averts your eyes from focusing on the road, came on board to make the Delco delegation’s vote all yeas.
Preoccupation is the key fact that makes DUIC such a dangerous distraction. To "preoccupy" is to dominate or engross the mind of a person, according to the dictionary.
You can be engrossed in a phone conversation and be looking out your windshield, but you still may not be paying attention to what's in your field of vision. In other words, your mind's somewhere else, get it?
It's almost like daydreaming -- deep in thought about some stressful or personal problem or future plans.
Changing the radio or defroster buttons isn't comparable. Or you can just take a sip of your coffee when you're stopped at a light.
It's not the same as PREOCCUPATION. Get it!
Hopefully, the Harrisburg honchos in the Senate, where the Republicans have the majority 30-20 – led by Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi of Chester – can also muster such bi-partisanship when their version of H.B. 2070 comes out of the Senate Transportation Committee.
After they fine tune and tweak their version – they reportedly are considering merging it with H.B. 67 which deals with distracted driving issues related to junior drivers – they could come up with this much needed state motor vehicle law that supersedes a patch quilt of local laws.
It’s long overdue to have such a law that finally addresses this major distraction of yakking on a handheld cell phone held up to one’s ear while driving with only one hand on the steering wheel.
I staunchly disagree with those who feel driving with only one hand on the wheel poses no problem in controlling a vehicle – especially if you’re on a straight-away highway like the Pennsylvania Turnpike or I-95 with no traffic lights. Can you quickly change lanes if someone darts in front of you, using only one hand on the wheel?
The fact remains that the best way to make left or right turns on local roads – especially if they’re congested – is the conventional hand-over-hand, two-handed method I was taught in driving education in high school.
Maybe before so-called “suicide” or “granny” knobs on steering wheels were outlawed, you could have some one-handed control, but one-handed turns just don’t give you complete control.
The bill passed by the state House Tuesday afternoon would impose a fine of $50 on drivers using a handheld cell phone or texting while driving as a primary offense, meaning a cop could pull you over just for this violation.
The bill applies to vehicles that are in motion and there are exceptions for calling 911 or using navigational systems. Understandably, there are also numerous exceptions for operators of emergency vehicles, volunteer emergency responders engaged in the performance of their official duties.
What’s not made really clear in the 13-page House bill is what it means “…when the vehicle is stopped due to a traffic obstruction and the motor vehicle transmission is in neutral or park.” Maybe more specific circumstances are needed in the bill.
Rep. Joe Markosek, D-Allegheny, chairman of the House Transportation Committee, the bill’s lead sponsor, returned my call Friday.
“The car has to be either out of gear or the motor shut off, then you can be on the text or whatever,” he said. “If you are just at a (traffic) light and your foot’s on the brake, that doesn’t count.”
If you’re on a highway and there’s a wreck and you’re sitting in dead traffic for two hours and shut your engine off or you put the car in park, “you can text at that point,” he said.
If you pull over and take the vehicle out of gear with the motor running and have the heater on, “you can do that,” Markosek said.
Markosek said he thinks the chances of his bill passing in the Senate are very good. “I think there’s been a dramatic change in public support for this over the last year.”
If you agree, contact your local state Senator, either Dominic Pileggi, R-9, of Chester, Edwin “Ted” Erickson, R-26, who has a Drexel Hill office, R-26, Daylin Leach, D-17, who represents Haverford and Radnor and Montco, or Anthony H. Williams, D-8, of Philadelphia, who also has an office in Yeadon.
It’s a Go for Ramp Meters
After 15 years of on- and off-again operation for those so-called ramp meters – another name for traffic lights on ramps to the Blue Route (I-476) – they will be turned on again starting Feb. 9 at 3 p.m. at three of 14 ramps. The others turn on in late February and March. So now you’ll know what those inoperable signals were there for, all this time.
Traffic Delays
Chester, Parkside and Brookhaven – ADA ramp construction with restrictions between 21st Street and Beachwood Road 7 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays.
Chester – Seventh Street, ADA ramp construction with lane restrictions at Highland Avenue 7 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays.
I-95 North/South – Upper Chichester, Lower Chichester, Chester, Upland, Ridley Township, Ridley Park, Tinicum, Chester -- Intelligent Transportation System Foundation installation with lane closures between Naamans Creek Road and Broad Street 9 a.m.-3 p.m. weekdays.
I-95 North/South – Chester Township, Upland, Eddystone and Chester, ITS installation between Route 291 and Broad Street, 9 p.m.-5 a.m. weekdays.
I-476 North/South (Blue Route) – Nether Providence, Ridley Township and Springfield, ITS installation with lane closures between I-95 and U.S. Route 1, 9 p.m.-5 a.m. weekdays.
I-95 North/South ramps to the bridge – Chester, bridge construction with 15-minute stoppages on ramps 12:01 to 5 a.m. Wednesday.
Ridley Township – Fairview Road, Aqua Pa. utility installation, closed/detoured between Sherman Avenue and Emlem Street 7 a.m.-7 p.m., with 24-hour closure, detour posted Feb. 15-26.
Chester Pike – Ridley Township and Eddystone, PECO Energy utility work between Simpson Street and Old Bullens Lane 9 a.m.-3 p.m. through Feb. 18. Work began Jan. 28.
Commodore Barry Bridge West – Chester, bridge work, right lane closed on bridge, 24-hour closure through Aug. 31. Work began Dec. 14.
Baltimore Pike (U.S. Route 1) – Middletown and Chester Heights, bridge replacement with lane restrictions between Darlington and Station roads, 24-hour restrictions through June 2011. Work began Oct. 12.
Chester – Flower Street, Barry Bridge ramp construction with a new traffic pattern at Fourth Street and Second Street, 24-hour restriction, through 2011. Work began January 2009.
Chester – Norris Street, bridge ramp construction with lane restrictions at Front Street and Delaware Avenue, 24-hour restrictions through 2011. Work began January 2009.
Road Watch appears Sundays. Only messages and mail with phone numbers will be considered. E-mail: jroman@delcotimes.com.