He didn’t have to do it, but Washington State Patrol Chief John Batiste has ordered his troopers to use hands-free electronics — such as headsets and visor devices — when they talk on their cell phones while driving.
And troopers can’t text while driving, just as state law prohibits the general public from doing.
“When you’re driving, you need to be driving,” Batiste said in a bulletin. “Although the law provides us an exemption, I believe we should set a good example for the motoring public.”
These days, being seen driving while texting or talking on cell phones can net drivers a $124 ticket, if police pull you over for another violation such as speeding.
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Beginning June 10, the offense becomes a primary violation, meaning that troopers, police officers and sheriff’s deputies can stop and cite you even if there is no other offense.
In Clark County, it’s very common to see drivers talking on their phones. It’s unknown whether police will enforce the law to the extent that it changes the behavior of large numbers of people.
But studies have indicated that texting while driving is an extremely dangerous distraction, since motorists take their eyes off the road, for significant periods of time, to send or receive messages.
Hudson’s Bay High School teacher Gordon Patterson was bicycling along a city street when he was struck and killed by a texting driver. That driver is now in prison.
Talking on a cell phone also takes drivers’ attention from getting safely from Point A to Point B, as do a multitude of other distractions, including eating, officials say.
Troopers have police radios in their cars, but they also need to use cell phones because the WSP’s radio frequencies aren’t encrypted and can be monitored by anyone with a police scanner, Batiste said.
Texting while driving is common among high school students, many of whom are in no hurry to stop the practice, The Columbian’s interviews have shown.
