Pa. House and Senate still at odds on distracted-driving bills

HARRISBURG - One bill would allow historic automobiles to display vintage license plates in lieu of standard plates. Another would let a funeral director display a flashing purple light during a procession. A third would create an advisory committee to make policy recommendations for pedalcycles, or bicycle-powered rickshaws.

Those are among the dozen or so motor-vehicle bills that are poised for a vote in the state Senate.

Notably absent from the calendar is finalized legislation that would ban texting while driving, something more than 30 states have enacted and which has overwhelming public support in Pennsylvania - even from cell-phone providers.

To be fair, both the House and Senate have passed versions of so-called "distracted-driving" bills.

Now the House is considering two measures: one to ban texting while driving, and one that would bar drivers under 18 from using any cell-phone device and ban talking on hand-held phones for all other drivers.

A spokesman for House Majority Leader Mike Turzai (R., Allegheny) says he expects the chamber will pass the texting-ban bill, sponsored by Sen. Robert Tomlinson (R., Bucks) as early as this week and send it back to the Senate for final passage.

"Our goal is to get it back to the Senate and to the governor's desk," said Steve Miskin.

A second bill, sponsored by Rep. William Kortz (D., Allegheny), that would ban all handheld cell-phone use was slated for a vote on Tuesday, but on Monday Miskin said it would be delayed.

The House and Senate have been at loggerheads for six years over how to craft distracted-driver legislation that would be acceptable to a majority of members.

At issue has been whether to list driving offenses as primary or secondary offenses and whether to combine texting and talking on cell phones or address them in separate bills.

While the Pennsylvania legislature has struggled to reach agreement, 34 states and the District of Columbia prohibit drivers from texting behind the wheel, and at least eight states have passed laws barring drivers from talking on handheld cell phones. New Jersey bars both.

As the distracted-driving debate drags on in the Pennsylvania General Assembly, at least one driver-safety bill will become law.

Gov. Corbett was scheduled to sign on Tuesday legislation that would increase training for young drivers and limit the number of passengers they can carry.