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SPONSOR: |
Park |
DATE TYPED: |
|
HB |
224 |
||
SHORT TITLE: |
Prohibit Cellular Phone Use While Driving |
SB |
|
||||
|
ANALYST: |
Fox-Young |
|||||
APPROPRIATION
Appropriation
Contained |
Estimated
Additional Impact |
Recurring or
Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
||
FY03 |
FY04 |
FY03 |
FY04 |
|
|
|
|
|
$0.1 Significant |
Recurring |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(Parenthesis
( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases
REVENUE
Estimated Revenue |
Subsequent Years Impact |
Recurring or
Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
|
FY03 |
FY04 |
|
|
|
|
$0.1
Unknown |
$0.1
Unknown |
Recurring |
|
|
|
|
|
|
(Parenthesis
( ) Indicate Revenue Decreases)
Responses
Received From:
Administrative Office
of the Courts (AOC)
Association of
District Attorneys (AODA)
State Highway and Transportation Department
(SHTD)
Attorney General (AG)
Department of Public Safety (DPS)
SUMMARY
Synopsis
of Bill
House Bill 224 amends the Motor Vehicle Code, to
say "a person shall not use a hand-held cellular phone
while driving a motor vehicle on a highway." Violation is a special penalty misdemeanor punishable
by a fine of $30.
The bill also cleans
up technical language in the statute regarding the acceptance of a notice to
appear in lieu of a notice of penalty assessment.
Significant Issues
The
Outcome:
Reduce the number of head-on crashes per one hundred million vehicle
miles traveled.
Outcome:
Reduce the number of traffic fatalities per one hundred million vehicle
miles traveled.
The passage of this
Bill would likely reduce crashes related to inattention, having a positive effect
on the above outcomes.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
Agencies
involved in motor vehicle regulation will likely see an increase in workload. The bill could have a
significant impact on the Department of Public Safety (DPS), both on the State
Police Division and the Motor Transportation Division. There will likely be significant costs associated
with enforcement; however, those costs are difficult to measure. The most significant of these consists of
officer time issuing and processing citations.
This legislation will likely have a significant fiscal impact on
magistrate, municipal and metropolitan courts.
The cost of issuing assessments and processing cases will increase.
The $30 fine that may be imposed for this misdemeanor offense will likely spur a small increase in revenues, although the amount of that increase is unknown.