Though New Jersey banned drivers in 2004 from talking on handheld cell phones, the violation was a secondary offense, meaning police could not pull over drivers unless they saw them violating another law.
New York, California, Connecticut and Washington, D.C., have made phoning while driving a primary offense. Texting in Washington state is a secondary offense, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The bill "sends a clear message to drivers that we need them to pay more attention to the road than their cell phones and their BlackBerrys," said a sponsor, Assemblyman Paul Moriarty (D., Gloucester).
Under the legislation, drivers would be permitted to use a hands-free device to talk on the phone. Violators would be fined $100, and police would start enforcement four months after the bill is signed.
Gov. Corzine's office would say only that he was reviewing the bill. But Corzine has a history of supporting such bans; as a U.S. senator, he pushed for a federal prohibition on talking on cell phones while driving.
Senate President Richard J. Codey (D., Essex) had long championed the cell-phone ban but met with resistance until he and Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts agreed to merge it with Moriarty's proposal to ban driving while texting.
"It was obviously a compromise and a merging of two good ideas," Codey said. "We have all driven and seen people driving way too slow or erratically and we pass them, and they're animated and engaged and they have no idea where they are because they're on a cell phone."
Codey is unfazed by a lack of data linking phone use to accidents, saying motorists are not likely to volunteer to police that they were on the phone at the time of a crash.
