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CHICAGO (STNG) - Motorists who take their hands off the wheel -- and their eyes off the road -- to surf the Internet or send a text message would pay through the nose, under a crackdown proposed Wednesday by the City Council’s most powerful alderman.
Three years after striking out in his attempt to add all forms of distracted driving to Chicago’s ban on the use of cell phones without a hands-free device, Finance Committee Chairman Edward M. Burke (14th) is trying again.
“It’s time for us to revisit the issue,” Burke said. “It’s as much a part of educating the public as anything else. Maybe people [who] are driving and texting don’t realize the kind of hazard that’s created.”
Distracted driving -- including eating, applying makeup and reading -- triggers nearly 80 percent of the nation’s car crashes, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The younger the driver, the worse it gets. Nearly 40 percent of motorists between the text-crazed ages of 18 and 27 send text messages while behind the wheel, according to Nationwide Insurance.
Law enforcement personnel and operators of emergency vehicles would be exempt from the ordinance that Burke introduced Wednesday. All other drivers would be prohibited from texting and surfing, except when the vehicle was in a “stationary, parked position and not in gear.”
Violators would face a $75 fine for each offense unless the violation results in an accident. If a crash occurs, the fine would be $200.
If the latest crackdown flies, Burke said he may attack other forms of distracted driving. And he might even propose ticketing pedestrians, an increasing number of whom are landing in emergency rooms for injuries suffered sending texts while crossing the street.
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