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F I S C A L   I M P A C T   R E P O R T

 

 

 

SPONSOR:

Park

 

DATE TYPED:

02/06/03

 

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)

 

Relates to SB 110

 

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

 

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 State Highway and Transportation Department (SHTD) reports that one of the department’s goals is to reduce all motor vehicle related crashes, injuries, and deaths.  The Traffic Safety Bureau currently has the following performance measures related to traffic fatalities:

 

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. 

 

JCF/sb:yr