Caught texting and driving? Prepare to pay more
Fines doubled Wednesday for drivers in Delaware caught texting and driving, or talking on a cell phone without using a hands-free device.
Gov. Jack Markell signed the new law at the Wilmington Riverfront headquarters of AAA Mid-Atlantic – a key supporter of the legislation, which was sponsored by Rep. Deborah Hudson, R-Fairthorne and passed by Delaware lawmakers earlier this year.
Higher fines will convince more drivers not to text and drive, and consequently will reduce roadway crashes, supporters says.
"Far too many motorists continue to use handheld devices behind the wheel," Markell said in a statement. "Along with continued public education, the increased penalties we're enacting today reflect the seriousness of this issue and reinforce the importance of keeping your eyes on the road."
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Drivers who are cited by police for texting while driving for the first time will pay a base fine of $100 starting Wednesday, up from $50. Those who are caught a second time or more will be fined "not less than $200 nor more than $300," according to the text of the bill.
In 2010, Markell signed Delaware's first law restricting cell phone use while driving making it the eighth state to do so. On Wednesday, he signed the new law on the hood of a 1960s-vintage Batmobile, and was flanked by a man in Batman costume during the bill signing ceremony.
Batman brought "added excitement to this critical safety message," according to statement from AAA.
The bill originally passed both houses of the Delaware legislature in June. In the Senate, it passed with a vote of 14 in favor, and 7 opposed. A total of 40 members of the House of Representatives voted in favor in the bill, with one member absent and no one in opposition.
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Republican candidate for governor, Sen. Colin Bonini, R-Dover South, was one of the few to oppose the legislation. Doubling the fine to $100 is not enough to change driver behavior, he said. While he is "adamantly opposed" to texting while driving, "all the (new law) will do is take a little more money into the (government) pot," he said.
"If I thought this would make one iota of difference, I would have voted for it," Bonini said.
According to the Office of highway Safety, 671 crashes have been linked to cell phone use in Delaware between January of 2012 and May of 2016. Additionally, any driver distractions or fatigue were "contributing circumstances" to 5,511 crashes in 2015, according to the Delaware State Police.
Nationally, there was a 9 percent increase in traffic deaths during the first six months of 2016 compared with the same time in 2015, according to The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, an insurance company trade association. The group attributes the increase to a higher rate of distracted driving caused by cell phone use.
In June, Delaware Department of Transportation installed signs on Interstate 95 and Del. 1 that read "No Texting: It Can Wait."
The signs are part of the nationwide "It Can Wait" campaign designed to reduce the number of vehicle collisions caused by people who type on their cell phones while driving.
Contact Karl Baker at (302) 324-2329 or kbaker@delawareonline.com. Follow him on Twitter @kbaker6.