Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Louisiana Highway Safety Chief Says Proposed Mobile Phone Ban Was Unenforceable

From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 14 May 2003 16:39:59 -0400

Louisiana Highway Safety Chief Says Proposed Mobile Phone Ban Was Unenforceable

The Louisiana House Transportation Committee rejected a proposed ban on the
use of mobile phones while driving after hearing from Louisiana's highway safety
chief, Jim Champagne. According to Champagne, the ban would be
unenforceable. Additionally, he stated, mobile phones are no more distracting
than everything else that happens in vehicles. "The bottom line is you can't
legislate common sense," he said. Only four out of 12 members of the House
Transportation Committee supported the ban.

=========================================================

Louisiana House committee rejects
ban on cell phone use while driving

The Associated Press
5/13/03 12:52 PM

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- A proposed ban on cell phone use while
driving was rejected by a House transportation committee Tuesday, after
Louisiana's highway safety chief said it was unenforceable.

Jim Champagne, the head of the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission,
said his office was in the process of gathering statistics on how cell phone
use affects drivers' abilities.

"It's very obvious it is a distraction but certainly no more so than everything
else that happens in our vehicles," he said.

Besides that, Champagne said, the law would be unenforceable.

"The bottom line is you can't legislate common sense," he said.

Rep. Arthur Morrell, D-New Orleans, said his bill was designed to
eliminate a driver distraction that can cause accidents. He said if you
couldn't legislate common sense, the state shouldn't have mandatory seat
belt laws.

"This bill was brought as a safety factor, that it can help and prevent
accidents from happening," Morrell said.

Only four members of the House Transportation Committee supported the
measure; eight lawmakers opposed it.

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On the Net: http://www.legis.state.la.us
http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louisiana/index.ssf?/newsflash/get_story.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?n4478_BC_LA-XGR--CellPhones&&news&newsflash-louisiana

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