The D.C. Council is discussing legislation that would be the toughest distracted driving law in the country but could face problems with funding and technology to enforce the law.
The bill calls for a “three strikes” policy, escalating punishment within an 18-month period: $100 for the first offense, $200 for the second offense, $400 for the third offense. A three-time violator would have their license suspended.
The District government said they do not have the technology to track multiple offenses within the specified time period. They also said paying for such technology has not been budgeted.
Neither Maryland nor Virginia has a law on the book that suspends a driver’s license after a third conviction on a distracted driving ticket, so there are questions about how those drivers might be affected by the new legislation.
More than a third (42.3 percent) of drivers surveyed nationally confessed to reading a text or email while driving in the past 30 days, and more than two in three drivers (70 percent) admitted to talking on a cellphone while driving within the past 30 days, according to the most recent research by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.
