TRENTON – Talking or texting on your cell phone while driving could soon prove a lot more costly.
The Senate Law and Public Safety Committee released a bill, S69, that would increase fines for multiple offenses of talking, or text messaging on a hand-held cell phone, while driving.
The first offense would be $200, instead of $100 under current law. Also, under the new bill, the second and third offenses would be $400 and $600, respectively.
Sen. Dick Codey, the bill’s sponsor, said that talking and texting while driving is “far more dangerous,” and affects more people than drunk driving. He cited an incident in Mine Hill in which a teen crashed into a couple riding a motorcycle, with both the husband and wife losing their legs.
He said the current $100 penalty is a “slap on the wrist.”
“What we got to do is a slap in the face,” Codey said. “It’s causing accidents, which causes injuries, which causes death.”
The bill also permits the court at its discretion to impose a 90-day driver’s license suspension for persons convicted of the offense for a third or subsequent time, and could also receive moving violation points on their license.
Under the bill, a person convicted of a second offense of driving while talking or texting on a hand-held device would be treated as a first time offender for sentencing purposes if the second offense occurs more than 10 years after the first offense. Similarly, a person convicted of a third offense would be treated as a second-time offender for sentencing purposes if the third offense occurs more than ten years after the second offense, according to the bill.
