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OMG! Bill Targets Teenage Drivers

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By COURTNEY CAIRNS PASTOR

cpastor@tampatrib.com

Published: February 4, 2009

TOWN 'N COUNTRY - Leto High senior Karishma Mahtani has a chance to make her idea a state law, but it might not make her popular with friends who like to text, talk on the phone or fiddle with MP3 players while driving.

Mahtani, 17, has proposed penalizing teen drivers who are pulled over and discovered using handheld electronic devices. State legislators liked it so much they will introduce it as a bill during the next legislative session in Tallahassee this spring.

"Teenagers are infamous for knowing what's the safest thing for ourselves and making the wrong decision anyway," Mahtani said.

A panel of lawmakers and judges selected Mahtani's idea as the winner in the fifth annual "Ought to be a Law" contest recently. . Students from Hillsborough County high schools outlined laws they wanted to see implemented, backing up plans with research and statistics. Rep. Kevin Ambler and Sen. Victor Crist agreed to sponsor the winning bill.

A dozen students, including Mahtani, formed the Student Legislation Council and will work together to research and draft the bill, gain support and eventually present it before councils and committees in Tallahassee. They have met twice to begin dividing duties.

As is, the bill would establish an enhanced penalty for youths ages 15 to 17 who are driving and using handheld technology, such as music and video game systems as well as cell phones. Hands-free devices would be allowed.

Mahtani, Leto's student government president, singled out teens for her law because their inexperience behind the wheel puts them at a high risk of accidents. She knew text-messaging and chatting on the phone was common but still was shocked when a sheriff's deputy she interviewed told her he had seen students playing portable videogame systems while driving.

"I'm on the road with these people," she said.

She hopes the law will break teens of distracting habits and make it less likely they will continue as adults.

Her proposal has the added benefit of not costing the state anything. It could bring in revenue, Mahtani said, from the additional penalty. She thinks that factor helped set her apart from the other candidates in the "Ought to be a Law" competition. The panel that weighed the proposals dwelled heavily on costs of different initiatives.

"It definitely made a difference," said Mahtani, who plans to attend Florida State and study political science. "Other students had really great ideas, but I made sure it was creating revenue."

Kimberly Garcia, her adviser for the project at Leto, knew Mahtani had a good plan, but they encountered stumbling blocks along the way. The biggest issue? Some legislators had the same idea.

Similar bills were introduced last year in the House and Senate, and at least one is expected to be revived this year.

Garcia and Mahtani scrambled to analyze ways to make their bill different. They said the distinction is in the penalties. Others have included cell phone use as a separate citation, which can be fought separately in court. Mahtani's bill adds it as an extra fee to the original penalty. If a teen got pulled over for speeding, for example, and was using a cell phone, the police officer could increase the speeding fine with the technology penalty.

Garcia was thrilled to see the legislators support Mahtani's proposal after so much work.

"It was very rewarding to see the final result," she said.

Ambler started "Ought to be a Law" at Gaither in 2004 and expanded it to other high schools the following years. One of the students' bills was signed into law in 2007. The law encourages schools to partner with businesses to give students internship opportunities.

STUDENT'S PROPOSED LAW
Karishma Mahtani, a Leto senior, drew up this proposal to become a law:

Not only is cell phone usage a distraction in the classroom, but it is a distraction on the road as well. I strongly believe that the use of handheld electronic devices while driving is a concerning problem for inexperienced drivers. Teens, with little experience behind the wheel, are easily distracted by text messages, phone calls, MP3 players and personal gaming devices. Anytime someone is driving not only is their life is at risk but all others on the road are at risk as well.

Seventeen states currently prohibit cell phone use while operating a motor vehicle by certain segments of the population. The risk of 16- to 19-year-old drivers to experience an accident while operating a motor vehicle is higher than any other age group. Simply put, under my law proposal, teens operating a motor vehicle, ages 15-17, using handheld electronic devices will receive a citation and a fine under an enhanced penalty. Teen drivers will be required to refrain from using handheld electronic devices unless utilizing a hands-free system while driving a vehicle (i.e. Bluetooth Wireless System).

This new law will have no financial impact on our state. My law will be one more step to providing safer roads in Florida, protecting all drivers and establishing a foundation for safer cell phone usage in our state.

Reporter Courtney Cairns Pastor can be reached at (813) 865-1503.

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