Panel debates cell-phone limits

HELENA - The Senate Highway and Transportation committee on Thursday considered a bill outlawing the use of hand-held cell phones and text messaging while driving.

The committee is expected to vote Tuesday whether to table the measure or send it on to the full Senate.

The bill, SB 278, imposes a $100 fine on a motorist using a hand-held mobile phone or other mobile electronic device, either to talk or send a text message, while his or her vehicle is in motion.

And drivers under 18 would be prohibited from using cell phones, even those with hands-free accessories, any time they are behind the wheel and moving.

"I think we can save lives," said Sen. Christine Kaufmann, D-Helena, who sponsored the bill.

"We need to send the signal to our driving public that this is unacceptable behavior."

The use of cell phones while behind the wheel is "a growing public safety concern," Lewis and Clark County Sheriff's Deputy Bob Clark told the committee.

According to Kaufmann, nine out of 10 people agree using a cell phone while driving is distracting but 73 percent do it anyway. A Montana State University study found that rural motorists who use cell phones while on the road are four times more likely to get into an injury accident.

The bill, which if passed will apply to the entire state, does permit drivers to use hand-held cell phones in emergency situations. Law enforcement officers, firefighters and emergency response personnel are permitted to drive and talk when using hand-held cell phones in the course of their official duties.

The committee heard comments Thursday from federally licensed amateur radio operators and an official with the Montana Department of Corrections seeking to be included in the list of exceptions.

Representatives from wireless communications companies and the auto makers, as well as private citizens and the freight-hauling industry, spoke in favor of the bill.

"I think that in the age we live in, it's reasonable to expect people to have hands-free technology," said a representative of Verizon Wireless.

Mona Jamison, who spoke on behalf of General Motors, told the committee she thought the bill was fair and well-written.

"I think it weighs the public safety… with reasonable, common-sense exceptions," she said.

Several people spoke out against the bill, including one man who didn't want to make "criminals out of young people talking on the telephone."

Joey Jayne of Arlee told the committee she thought several of the terms used in the bill needed to be better defined and that it gave police too much discretion.

In a separate hearing Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee listened to comment on a bill that would require insurance companies to pay attorney fees in worker compensation cases involving medical benefits.

The fees currently come out of money awarded to injured workers, which shorts the medical provider, said Sen. Larry Jent, D-Bozeman, who is sponsoring the bill.

Worker compensation attorneys and medical professionals argued that the way attorney's fees are paid isn't fair and unduly penalizes hospitals and doctors.

Insurance company representatives, in turn, argued that they shouldn't be held responsible for attorney's fees racked up during the course of a 'reasonable" investigation into a claim and that the bill would raise worker compensation insurance premiums, penalizing Montana businesses.