‘Reach Out and Touch’ better leave hands free while driving, bill says

Brian Pellegrin was tired of holding his cell phone while driving. So he stopped in the LA Communica-tions Verizon store on West Tunnel Boulevard to buy a Bluetooth headset.

If the state Legislature has its way, all Louisiana drivers will have to make a similar decision.

Last week, the House Transportation Committee approved a bill severely restricting drivers from using text-messaging or hand-held cell phones. The Senate is scheduled to debate the bill this week.

On Thursday, a Senate panel approved a measure (Senate Bill 159) prohibiting motorists under age 18 from using cell phones or other electronic communications devices while driving.

It will next go on to the full Senate.

The Senate will debate the bill this week and all signs indicate it will pass.

Pellegrin, an outside salesman for Nick’s Fastener & Industrial Supply in Houma, travels 600 miles a week and is surprised by drivers’ lack of concentration on the road.

“I travel from Lafayette to New Orleans and see these drivers on their cell phones, and I know they’re text messaging,” he said. “They are right in front of you and then they drift all the way over into the left lane, and they don’t even know it.”

According to the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission, 10 deaths and 2,282 traffic accidents were caused by wireless devices in 2006.

Pellegrin is not shocked.

“You know what else they do without even knowing it?” he asked. “They are decreasing speed the whole time while they are texting. Without hitting the brakes, they let up on the accelerator, and they get slower, and slower, and slower. You can tell when they finish because they speed up.”

If the bill becomes law, drivers will have two basic options.

“There’s Bluetooth, which is a wireless device, and there’s also wired products because not all phones have Bluetooth technology built into them,” said Angie Hebert, the LA Communications Verizon store manager who sold Pellegrin his new phone.

There are other headsets that work with other model cell phones. Some have a button on the wire that allows the speaker to answer, while on others, users still have to press a button on the phone.

Many providers offer voice messaging as an alternative to texting. The driver speaks into an earpiece and sends a message rather than text.

Chauvin resident Dana Shaw, store manager of Sprint Nextel on West Tunnel Boulevard, has similar offerings.

“Our Sprint Nextel phones have a walkie-talkie direct connect feature,” she said. “We also have some with the in-line button with the direct connect button so you wouldn’t have to hold the phone to talk on the walkie-talkie.”

A new device called Jawbone blocks out all exterior noises so that the receiver only hears the speaker’s voice.

Shaw uses a BlueAnt Supertooth Light speakerphone that attaches to her car visor. “I can hang-up or answer the call without bending over to touch the phone,” she said.

Rep. Austin Badon, D-New Orleans, who sponsored the bill, said it will improve traffic safety.

Shaw is not as easily convinced.

“It’s not having the phone to your ear that distracts drivers, it’s the conversation,” she declared. “The headset won’t make you pay more attention. It’s the conversation that is distracting the driver, not having both hands on the [steering] wheel. Because nobody drives with two hands on the [steering] wheel anymore.”

Angie Hebert, store manager at LA Communication Verizon on West Tunnel Boulevard in Houma, helps Brian Pellegrin with his purchase of a Bluetooth cell phone. Separate bills making their way through the Legislature aim to prohibit hands-on cell phone use or text-messaging while driving. * Photo by KEYON K. JEFF