Don't Get Texted To Death

We send out Community Perception Surveys each month to random addresses of registered Papillion voters in an effort to find how our citizens think we do our job.  One part of the survey asks the respondent to identify a traffic enforcement issue that needs more attention by our officers.  More and more the surveys indicate that we need to "do something" about texting and driving.  These concerns indicate to me that our constituents have the wrong perception about the current Nebraska texting and driving laws. 

Unfortunately, with the exception of those who possess Commercial Driver's Licenses, current Nebraska statute only allows enforcement of texting and driving violations as a secondary offense.  Just as with seatbelt violations, an officer can only make a stop on a texting driver if another law is being broken at the same time.  In other words, we can't pull over a car just because the driver is stupidly texting, they must be stupidly texting and compound that act by simultaneously doing something else stupid. 

Much like you, nothing bugs me more than to be stopped at a light behind someone who continues to sit there after it goes green because they have their nose buried in their phone or laptop.  But until the Nebraska Legislature deems those actions dangerous enough, law enforcement will largely be handcuffed (get it?) to do anything meaningful about the practice. 

Now before you fire back that you saw a police officer operating an electronic device while he/she was driving, please be aware that the statute specifically excludes law enforcement officers, firefighters, EMTs and ambulance drivers.  Whether right or wrong, those occupations rely on electronics to send/receive/acknowledge the most basic and emergency communications to each other and the dispatch center.  We DO have a department policy that restricts how the officer should use those devices, with the utmost concern for safety.

If you have a strong belief that our laws regarding texting and driving need changing, I encourage you to contact your state senator and let him/her know how you feel.  My view is that if a violation isn't important enough to be considered a primary offense, we shouldn't waste legislative ink to make it a largely useless secondary offense.  Or better yet, as Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young used to tell us in Teach Your Children Well :  "You Who Are On The Road, Must Have a Code, That You Can Live By" --- Just don't be typing the code into your cell phone while driving, otherwise it may be a code you'll die by.   

 
BTW, the small print says:  lol no im nt busy im only driving