No Record of Citation in Teen Using Cell Phone While Driving in Oregon

Staff Writer, Feb 08, 2009

Oregon teens are getting a break when it comes to the strict rules of no talking on their cellular phones while driving – they're not getting pulled over at all.  Only a few tickets in some of the major cities around Oregon have been given to young drivers who disobeyed the law and chatted on their phone while driving.

The Oregon state law went into effect in 2008, but without any targeted enforcement to teens, this law seems to be more of a great idea than a practical tool.  The current law states that drivers 16 and 17 years old are to be cited for cell phone use, but only if it's their second offense.  Thus, it can be difficult to determine whether a teen has already had an offense to precipitate a citation.

Since many drivers seem to be ignoring the law, this cell phone ban becomes even more difficult to enforce as mass numbers of teens continue to chat and to drive.  The trick with having a law like this is that it's not a primary violation for teens, so it isn't something a police officer can necessarily enforce.  For drivers above the age of 17 years, police officers can go ahead and pull them over no matter the number of times they've been cited in the past.

And in other states where a total ban on cell phones when driving, police officers pull everyone over…at least, at first.  Many states have begun to ban cell phone use on the roads, but with low fines and little enforcement, police staff members are seeing little change in this common behavior.  In order to make sure this law sticks, more police officers will be necessary to pull over all drivers on their phones.

The manpower associated with enforcing these cell phone laws seems to be the one factor the lawmakers did not consider fully.  Extra police means additional budget concerns in an already stressed system.

The studies by the Oregon Department of Transportation aren't supporting the cause either.  In 2007, ODOT noticed that only 4 of the 411 fatal crashes of the year involved cell phone use.  But there is concern that the statistics are not reliable as many drivers do not report their cell phone use.

But with all of the distractions on the road for drivers, especially with newer drivers, it never hurts to try to limit the potential for interference with driving decision making.