Ban on driver texting backed

After years of tabling similar bills, the state Senate voted for a budget amendment late Thursday night that would ban either writing or reading text messages while behind the wheel.

Similar legislation passed overwhelmingly last year in the House, but key senators argued that they did not want to "legislate against stupidity." Recent events, however, have swayed them.

"A lot of us who opposed this in the past realize that there's a new generation of drivers who think it's OK to text while they're driving," said Senator Steven Baddour, a Methuen Democrat who is chairman of the Legislature's Joint Committee on Transportation and was one of the leading opponents of previous proposals. "This generation clearly doesn't get it. It's not the same as talking on a cellphone. You can't text safely while driving."

Massachusetts is one of 21 states considering legislation that would ban texting while driving. Twelve others have already passed bans, including five this year. The states that have banned it are Alaska, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, and Washington. Washington, D.C., has also outlawed the behavior.

The Senate vote occurred less than two weeks after Aiden Quinn, a 24-year-old MBTA operator, told authorities he was sending his girlfriend a text message when he missed a red light and slammed into a stopped trolley near Government Center Station. The crash destroyed three trolleys and injured nearly 50 people.

Last year, following the death of a 17-year-old girl from Southbridge who authorities believed was texting while driving, the House voted 107 to 47 to pass a bill that banned texting as well as prohibited drivers from making cellphone calls without a hands-free device. Six states - California, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Utah, and Washington - ban using cellphones without a hands-free device.

Those who have long warned about the risks of texting while driving hailed the Senate's vote Thursday.

"This is a great thing for the state to accomplish," said Jeff Larson, president of Safe Roads Alliance in Boston. "Texting while driving is a huge problem for people for all ages. You can't concentrate on the road and type at the same time. When that happens, you're essentially driving blind.

"All the studies seem to indicate that even if you're able to keep your eyes on the road, it diminishes your ability to drive safely."

Even cellphone companies, which long opposed any prohibitions of cellphone use while driving, have changed their position about texting.

"We believe that when your focus is away from the task at hand, which is driving, you need to pull off the side of the road to make your phone call or take your text," said Amy Storey, a spokeswoman for CTIA-The Wireless Association, a Washington-based group that represents the industry.

"Since December 2007, CTIA has agreed that there should be a ban on texting and driving."

The Senate amendment would impose a $75 fine on drivers caught texting while their vehicle is in motion and allow insurance companies to assess a surcharge for drivers cited for the violation.

But the bill still faces obstacles to becoming law.

Over the next few weeks, lawmakers in the House and Senate will meet in conference committee to reconcile their budget proposals and decide whether the texting prohibition will remain in the final budget the Legislature sends to the governor, who supports the legislation.

Representative Joseph F. Wagner, a Chicopee Democrat who serves as House chairman of the Joint Committee on Transportation, said he wants to see the bill debated in the House. He also argued that the Senate bill doesn't go far enough. He would prefer a bill that also bans drivers from making calls without a hands-free device.

"I don't think this is something that should be taken up in a conference committee," said Wagner, adding that his committee plans to hold a hearing on the issue early next month. "I don't think we're going to sign off on this because six conferees decide this."

He said police in the state cite about 14,000 drivers a year for "distracted driving," which he said reflects why the Senate bill doesn't go far enough.

His bill would have punished offenders with a $100 fine for the first offense, a $250 fine for the second, and a $500 fine after that.

"It's inconceivable to me that we need to be holding cellphones while driving," he said. "It's about time we stop nickel and diming this issue."

Seth Gitell, a spokesman for House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, declined to comment on the speaker's position. "This will be a matter for discussion in conference," he said.

Senator Mark Montigny, a New Bedford Democrat who first proposed a similar ban six years ago, said he favors the more comprehensive bill supported by Wagner, but he thinks the state should not wait to ban texting.

"I've heard for six years that we were going to have a process, a debate, and six years later nothing has happened - and yet more people have died," Montigny said.

"My feeling was that enough is enough; we have to ban texting now and at the same time continue the process to achieve a more comprehensive bill."

David Abel can be reached at dabel@globe.com.