Will Stricter Cell Phone Laws Work?

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By Ryan Simms

Story Published: Mar 13, 2010 at 7:42 PM PDT

YAKIMA COUNTY -- No texting... no talking... no exceptions. It could soon be a primary offense to use a cell phone while driving, but some people still don't think a new law will be effective.

Talking, texting, and a lot of trouble. Sgt. John Durand favors Washington's new cell phone law, but wonders how effective it will be.

"People are (still) gonna grab that cell phone and make the call," he says.

Case in point-- Action News staked-out the intersection of 8th Street and Yakima Avenue for ten minutes. In such a short amount of time, we witnessed five people talking and driving.

Sgt. Durand says he doesn't think cell phone patrol will be as strong as the emphasis toward such things as D.U.I. and seat belts.

Without that extra emphasis from law enforcement, many drivers tell Action News they're in no rush to clamp-down on cell phone use.

"I don't think I'm going to kill anyone when I talk on the phone. I'm pretty confident," says one driver.

"People are gonna be safe when they want to be safe, and I don't think another law on the books is going to help that,"

In short, it's "another law on the books" that could take some time to enforce.

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