The car up ahead is under the speed limit and weaving in and out of its lane.
You fear the driver is drunk or in need of medical attention -- until you pass by and discover the meandering motorist is just one of an estimated 400,000 Utahns who use a cellular telephone.Sound familiar?
Cell phone use by drivers is a distracting and sometimes dangerous behavior that has a growing number of other motorists concerned and perturbed. Among those who recognize the problem are members of the Utah Legislature, which is likely to pick up the cell phone issue again in 1999.
The idea that dialing, talking, scribbling notes, hanging up and simply taking part in a telephone conversation can take a driver's attention off the road is not in dispute. The question facing Utah lawmakers is whether legislation is the answer.
During the 1998 session, a Senate bill seeking to outlaw the use of cell phones while operating a vehicle failed to make it out of a Senate committee. A House bill with similar intent was pulled before it received a committee vote.
But this year, Rep. Ralph Becker, D-Salt Lake City, thinks there may be enough support for his cell phone bill to at least get it out of a committee and onto the House floor for debate.
Becker, still fine-tuning his proposal, said his bill will look much like one sponsored a year ago by Sen. Robert C. Steiner, D-Salt Lake City. Steiner's bill sought to make it a minor infraction, similar to a parking ticket, to operate a hand-held cellular phone while driving. Becker said his bill, like Steiner's, will not prevent drivers from using hands-free cell phones or from carrying a cell phone for emergency use.
"As a person who uses a cell phone periodically now, I know there's a great temptation to use it to catch up on phone calls as you're driving from place to place, and I know from my own experience it's not safe," Becker said. "I think we've got enough problems on our roads without creating problems from people's attention being diverted by cell phones."
A recent study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found 85 percent of the country's 65 million cell phone owners use them while driving, and that such usage does in fact increase the risk of an accident, "at least in isolated cases." The 18-page report is available on the Internet at www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/research/.
Representatives of the wireless telephone industry realize it's a problem but consider it equivalent to changing a tape or CD, eating or reading a map while driving. Proposed laws that single out cell phone users, they argue, are not only unfair but destined for failure.
Tim Ayers of the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association said other states have considered such laws. Legislators ultimately decided officers already could cite inattentive drivers under other statutes, he said.
Federal statistics show a rise in fatal accidents in which cell phone use was a factor. But Lisa Bowersock, spokeswoman for AirTouch Cellular, countered that the devices actually have made America's roads safer. Each day across the country, about 50,000 calls are made to 911 by cell phone users reporting crimes or requesting help, she said.
Joe Hansen, a Salt Lake-based spokesman for AT&T Wireless, likened the current discussion about cell phone use to concerns in the mid-1900s that the new car radios would cause a dramatic increase in traffic accidents. He added that new cell phone technology such as one-touch and voice-activated dialing has made the use of cellular phones easier for drivers.
Le Stahr, owner of Action Link Wireless on State Street, would not object to a law limiting cell phone use by vehicle operators to the hands-free variety. His shop sells and installs the devices for up to $450.
The Utah Highway Patrol opposed Steiner's bill a year ago, saying it would be difficult to enforce. Spokesman Verdi White II said the UHP would again look at issues of enforceability and fairness when evaluating Becker's proposal.
Craig Allred, director of the Utah Highway Safety Office, said he has mixed emotions about any attempt to restrict cell phones because they have helped save hundreds of Utahns' lives. But he said a legislative discussion could be helpful if it makes motorists aware of their responsibility to drive safely.