INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana lawmaker wants to stop motorists from texting, but to do so, he’s had to file a bill that would ban the use of hand-held cell phones while driving.

State Sen. Travis Holdman, R-Markle, said legislation he filed last week would make it easier for police to catch people sending text messages while they’re behind the wheel.

The bill would make it a Class C infraction to use a hand-held cell phone while driving and would give police “primary enforcement” — allowing them to pull over and ticket drivers without requiring any other traffic violation. Nine states have similar laws.

The bill would allow the use of Bluetooth devices or other “hands-free” technology on the cell phone. It would allow emergency calls to be made.

In 2009, Holdman authored the state’s graduated driver’s license law that prohibits teenage drivers, 18 and under, from texting while driving.

He said his constituents have urged him to do more.

“The calls I’ve been getting are from young mothers,” Holdman said. “They say, ‘Will you do something so that my husband will quit texting while he’s driving?”

Enforcing an anti-texting law is difficult, though. Holdman said law enforcement officials have told him it’s easier for police officers to spot a driver on a cell phone than it is to spot a driver sending text messages. Drivers who do so typically have their device in their lap and are using two hands to type in the message.

That’s what makes it so dangerous, as Holdman noted. He cited a 2009 Virginia Tech Transportation Institute study that showed texting drivers take their eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds out of every 6 seconds.

At that rate, a texting driver traveling 55 miles an hour would travel the length of a football field without ever looking up.

The anti-texting intent of the bill received support from Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller and AT&T Indiana President George Fleetwood.

Both Zoeller and Fleetwood appeared at a press conference Thursday to push the message that driving and texting don’t mix.

Fleetwood explained why AT&T has launched a national campaign to promote that message: “Because people are dying while texting while driving,” Fleetwood said. “It’s a foolhardy practice at best. A lethal one at worst.”

Zoeller defended Holdman’s bill as an act of public safety. “This is not about personal liberty,” Zoeller said. “Texting while driving is entirely different from seat belt or motorcycle helmet laws and this prohibition does not infringe upon any individual rights.”€

Driving while distracted by cell phones — talking or texting — appears to be a significant factor in collisions, according to some studies. The Indiana State Police reported 1,167 crashes, including four fatalities, in which “cell phone usage” was cited as a contributing factor.  

“And those are the ones that drivers admit to,” Holdman said.

What kind of reception the bill will receive once the Indiana General Assembly is in session is hard to predict. Similar bills have been introduced but have failed to gain support needed for passage.

Holdman said motorists can act now, even before the bill gets a hearing, to increase safety by putting away their cell phones while driving. Holdman, Zoeller and Fleetwood said that their family members have pressured them into doing so.  

“It’s difficult when your cell phone rings. It’s hard not to pick it up,” said Holdman. “But you have to decide that it can wait.”

Maureen Hayden is Statehouse bureau chief for CNHI’s Indiana newspapers. She can be reached at Maureen.hayden@indianamediagroup.com.