Driver safety bills stuck at idle

The Legislature showed heavy interest last year in passing major legislation on testing elderly drivers and banning text messaging behind the wheel, only to back off amid deep divisions over the two measures.

With the legislative session resuming at the State House, key lawmakers, though publicly supportive, remain at odds over fundamental elements of both bills - including what tests elderly drivers must pass and whether a text-messaging ban should also cover limits on cellphone use - as well as setting timelines for votes. Governor Deval Patrick has gently prodded the Legislature to act on both issues, but has not advocated a specific approach on either.

“It really is frustrating,’’ said state Senator Mark C. Montigny, a New Bedford Democrat who has sponsored bills to ban texting while driving for each of the past six years. “When something has multiple hearings over multiple years and terms, the membership should get a chance to vote.’’

Montigny said he is more optimistic that this year a ban on texting while driving will pass, but argues that the delays have endangered the public.

Clamor for action has grown louder as text messaging has grown in popularity and studies showing its potential dangers in vehicles have multiplied. A 2008 crash that killed a 17-year-old Southbridge girl was one of several blamed on texting, providing the impetus for a texting ban that was passed that year in the House but never taken up in the Senate.

Boston approved a measure last month to ban the practice locally, which is likely to gain necessary state approval, and several other area communities are moving to do the same. Several US senators are backing proposals that would require states to approve measures as a condition of their federal funding or would provide additional funding for those that do.

New Hampshire, Oregon, and Illinois passed bans on texting behind the wheel that went into effect Jan. 1, bringing the total number of states with such laws to 19, plus Washington D.C. In addition, six states ban the use of hand-held cellphones while driving, according to Kara Macek, Governors Highway Safety Association spokeswoman.

“Almost all the states have explored [a texting ban] or are exploring it, if they haven’t already passed one,’’ Macek said.

In Massachusetts, the House and Senate chairmen of the Legislature’s Joint Transportation Committee differ significantly over how to write a statewide law.

Steven A. Baddour, Senate chairman and a Methuen Democrat, favors a narrow ban. Joseph F. Wagner, House chairman and a Chicopee Democrat, wants something more far-reaching, calling for a provision requiring hands-free devices for all calls. That would force drivers who wish simply to dial a phone number either to pull over or to use voice-activated technology.

“If you don’t take the devices out of people’s hands, you’re going to get the devices held below the steering wheel, and drivers are going to take their eyes off the road,’’ Wagner said.

Baddour has opposed any ban on text messaging from behind the wheel as unnecessary, but now says the growth of the practice requires action. But Baddour would like to let drivers continue to dial and cradle their phones to their ears while driving.

A Senate ban on texting that was included in the budget in June was killed before the House had an opportunity to vote on it.

Wagner said he would like to advance a new bill out of the Transportation Committee this month, but Baddour will not commit to a timetable. The two lawmakers also differ on enforcement. Wagner supports giving police the authority to pull drivers over when they see a violation, while Baddour wonders whether to treat the practice as a secondary violation, meaning police would be able to cite drivers only if they are committing another driving offense at the same time.

Advocates are looking for tough legislation. Jeff Larson, the president of Safe Roads Alliance, said text messaging has to be defined as any sort of fiddling, including dialing phone numbers by hand.

He said his organization would actively oppose any ban that did not allow police to pull over drivers who are texting.

Otherwise, he said, “it gives it absolutely no teeth at all.’’

The House and Senate are also divided over how strictly to regulate elderly driving, efforts that could become even less popular in an election year, given the traditionally high turnouts of older voters.

The Transportation Committee, following a spate of fatal accidents with older drivers at the wheel, passed a bill last year that would require some form of testing for drivers who renew their licenses after age 75.

But the definition of that testing - whether it would require a road test, or some form of mental ability evaluation instead - and the age limit itself, are now in dispute.

The bill was held up in a House committee last year as lawmakers fought over the issues, and there is no timetable to reconsider it.

“There was some concern by the speaker that there wasn’t a clear consensus of what to do,’’ said Wayne Weikel, chief of staff for state Representative Charles A. Murphy, a Burlington Democrat who leads the Ways and Means Committee, which controls the bill’s fate.

Wagner, who voted for the compromise version that is now in limbo, says he would like to strike any reference to age or even a hint of road testing, preferring instead a bill that would allow the Registry of Motor Vehicles to design a medical competency requirement not dependent on age.

“I see very little support in the House for any age-based road retesting,’’ he said, a position shared by AAA of Southern New England, the influential drivers’ lobbying group.

Senate President Therese Murray said through a spokesman that both bills remain a priority.

She implied the House was to blame for the delay, noting that the Senate passed a texting ban in its budget last year and that the elderly driving bill remains in a House committee.

“We’d like to get them done as soon as possible,’’ said the spokesman, David Falcone.

The primary advocate for passing en elderly driving bill in the Legislature, state Senator Brian A. Joyce, Democrat of Milton, is adamant that the Legislature approve some measure requiring testing for older drivers.

“I’m through predicting when the House will finally act,’’ he said. “I hope and pray they finally act before we have still more tragedies.’’

Noah Bierman can be reached at nbierman@globe.com.