Ban On Cellphone Use While Driving

I was listening to the radio this morning and I heard an interview with Congressman Irwin Tieng. The topic was about House Bill 4917 which was filed by Tieng and several others. The bill seeks to ban the use of cellphones while driving.

The bill is given a tinge of relevance at this specific time because of the recent fatal accidents that have been hogging the headlines. I did a quick research and found that another lawmaker, Senator Jinggoy Estrada, has filed a counterpart bill. I don’t know about you but it seems to like a bandwagon is about to roll out.

Senate Bill 2529 or the “Anti-Cellular Phone Use While Driving Act of 2008″ prescribes the following penalties:

• a fine amounting to not more than P10,000
• imprisonment for not less than one year to six years.

Really very stiff penalties. Serial texters and phone addicts beware.

I can concede that these proposals have some merit. Tinkering with a phone while one is behind the wheel really poses a danger not only to the driver concerned but also to other motorists and pedestrians. Cellphone use while  driving should really be avoided. It should be banned. However, I think the proposals presented so far especially the one by the honorable senator will do the public more harm than good.

During the radio interview, the hosts asked Rep. Tieng some very valid questions. Here are two that I recall (translation mine):

• Is there a way to verify if a motorist was really using his phone while driving?
• Will it also be considered a violation if a motorist uses his phone while his vehicle is at a standstill because of heavy traffic?

Rep. Tieng failed to provide a convincing answer to these questions. To the first one he said investigators can check the driver’s phone record to get the exact times he/she sent out a message or took/made a call. To the second he said that technically the person behind the wheel is still driving he just has his foot on the brakes.  Interesting and probably correct but not convincing.

There’s another question that was asked. It was a very basic question that highlighted a core problem with the congressman’s proposal. How exactly will traffic enforcers be able to spot a violator and what if the vehicle’s windows are heavily tinted? Clearly, there is going to be a problem with the implementation.

The situation Rep. Tieng, Sen. Estrada and anyone else on board the bandwagon seek to address is real but unfortunately the proposals presented so far are not the solution.They may appear to be so but they’re really not. Besides, do they actually think such a ban can be implemented everywhere in the Philippines? How will enforcers check up on passing motorists let’s say along EDSA or the South Luzon Expressway? Aber, aber.

As far as I’m concerned, laws, especially those that prescribe imprisonment as penalty, should not be imposed at all if these cannot be implemented properly in the first place. It’s just too dangerous as these just open up more opportunities for enforcers to commit abuses such as this one. Our lawmakers should know that, in a country where dysfunctional systems abound, laws and rules especially the really stupid ones have a funny way of turning into instruments of abuse.

Now, just to clarify I am not against imposing a ban on cellphone use while driving per se. I am against it being implemented while there is no real system in place to immediately verify alleged violations. Pitting an accused motorist’s word against an enforcer’s allegation is not a system.