CHARLESTON -- Members of the West Virginia Legislature from the Huntington area as well as those from other areas of the state overwhelmingly support a new state law to prohibit the use of cell phones while driving -- especially for texting messages. But members in the House of Delegates want the state Senate to move the bill first because of last year's experience.

"I think House members, having passed legislation last year to curb texting and cell phone use while driving, will be very receptive to a similar bill emerging from the Senate," House Speaker Rick Thompson said on Tuesday afternoon. "I will be interested to see exactly what the Senate produces."

We're going to wait on the Senate to take the first step this year," said Delegate Dale Martin, D-Putnam. Martin chairs the House Roads and Transportation Committee where the bills introduced so far on this sensitive subject have been referred by Thompson, D-Wayne.

"We hope to take it up next week," said Sen. John Unger, D-Berkeley, chairman of the Senate Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. "I've already introduced a bill but we're waiting on the bill recommended by the joint House-Senate interim committee study."

Unger made his comments during an interview by phone and admitted he was using a "hands free" phone while he was driving his car. He said he favors legislation that would make the penalties just as strong for talking on a cell phone as for "text messaging" on a cell phone.

"I think it's a distraction in both instances," he said.

Sen. Evan Jenkins, D-Cabell and vice-chairman of the committee, believes new laws are needed because "it's a safety issue, not a matter of convenience." But Jenkins is more strongly in favor of laws to prevent texting on a hand-held phone device while driving than the offense of simply talking on a cell phone.

"The statistics show the likelihood of accidents goes up when a driver is texting on the phone," said Jenkins.

The two bills introduced so far in the Senate are:

SB167, sponsored by Sen. Unger, which is limited to texting on a cell phone and would make it a secondary offense rather than a primary offense. This means a police officer could only charge a motorist with this misdemeanor crime if the officer stops vehicle for a primary offense such as speeding or reckless driving.

SB52, also introduced Jan. 13 and assigned to Unger's committee. Co-sponsored by Sen. Jesse Guills, R-Greenbrier, and Sen. Dan Foster, D-Kanawha, it would make it a misdemeanor offense for a motorist to hold a cell phone in his or her hand while driving. The penalty would be a fine of up to $100 for a first offense and as much as $500 for a third offense.

Sen. Bob Plymale, D-Wayne, is another member of that committee who hopes the legislation will be enacted this year.

"I work in transportation research," Plymale said. "So I know how dangerous it can be to drive and use a cell phone at the same time. We need to take action on this.

Asked about a recent national TV newscast that indicating the National Safety Council estimates one in four traffic fatalities results from some motorist using a cell phone, Plymale said "this is why it's so important we do something."

Delegate Dale Stephens, D-Wayne, is a member of the House Roads and Transportation Committee but he is also a school bus driver so he views the proposed new law from that perspective.

"I think we need to take a serious look at this issue and we need to consider texting on a cell phone while driving to be a primary offense," he said.

Delegate Doug Reynolds, D-Wayne, said he's more inclined to support legislation to ban texting on a cell phone while driving and less willing to support a bill to make it a crime to use a hand-held cell phone to make or receive a call while driving.

"If the two issues are combined in a single bill, that's going to be a tough one for me," he said Tuesday. "I hope the two are presented as separate bills."

On the House side, one bill carried forward from the 2009 session is HB2995 which would prohibit text messaging with a cell phone or personal digital assistant (PDA) while driving. HB4013 which contains the interim study recommendations would make it an offense for a motorist to "hold a wireless communication device" in his or her hand while driving. The penalty is a $25 fine.

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