A bill introduced this week in the legislature seeks to override local communities’ efforts to ban talking on a cell phone while driving.

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The proposal comes from Chad Christensen, a Republican representative whose district includes several counties in eastern Idaho. His bill would do away with limitations put on cell phone use implemented at the local level. Idaho Falls and Pocatello each recently banned talking on a phone while driving. Christensen has two issues with local prohibitions.

First, he told the House Local Government Committee the action by the cities “is overreach of the city government, I believe, and beyond their authority.”

Secondly, he thinks the ban “punishes those that have been responsible.”

In other words, Christensen believes banning talking on a phone while driving penalizes successful multitaskers.

“Nothing we’ve seen suggests that people are good multitaskers,” say AAA Idaho’s Matthew Conde.

He says operating a phone while driving – either texting or talking – reduces awareness of what’s happening on the road. Conde points to statistics on distracted driving.

“In 2017, there were about 4,800 distracted driving crashes,” the AAA spokesman says. “Now those are the ones that are conclusively proven. Also, if you look in terms of injuries, there were 320 serious injuries and 40 fatalities.”

Conde says local cities passing their own bans shows a desire to address the problem.

The House Local Government Committee voted to return the proposed legislation to Christensen so he could clarify language in the bill.

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