GREENFIELD — Lawson Wulsin, 35, still sees the temptations to use his phone while in the car. Stopped at a traffic light? Check emails. Driving on a road with no one behind you? Take a peek at your latest text.
It’s always tempting to check his phone, he admits — often times in the flow of a back-and-forth conversation with someone else or keeping abreast on a business deal.
“I don’t have any good excuses,” Wulsin said about using his phone while in the car. It’s a maxim that has been attached to millennials often attached to their phones.
The current law, on the Massachusetts books since 2010, prohibits texting and driving. But a bill approved at the end of June by the state Senate looks to clamp down even further, essentially banning any usage of your phone in the car, besides using it for GPS navigation or as a hands-free device.
If the bill goes into law — the legislation still needs to pass the House and be signed by the governor — it will ban the use of social media and video calling systems while driving. It will not allow people to use their fingers to type in addresses into their GPS while driving, but will allow for a “single tap or swipe” to start or end GPS or calls taken using Bluetooth, hands-free device.
“Mostly I feel that’s a good law and distracted driving is dangerous driving,” Wulsin said. “I wish I could promise it would change my behavior.”
Other people in downtown Greenfield Friday afternoon were in favor with the general intent of the law.
Greenfield resident Cynthia Clifford, standing at the corner of Main and Federal streets, recalls seeing a person texting in the car, who then went “practically right over my toes.”
Clifford says it’s hard enough to pay attention and drive as is, let alone with the added distraction of a cellphone.
“I think there should be no texting and driving and no telephone use unless there’s a real emergency,” Clifford said, adding that she doesn’t have a cellphone.
Walking on Main Street with her daughter, Greenfield resident Jennifer Cavanaugh emphasized the importance of not using your phone while in the car.
“They’re handy to have, but I think it’s important to pull over and do it for sure,” Cavanaugh said.
Yet some people have pushed back from the law because of its possible enforcement policy. Drivers can be subject to a citation for holding their phones near their heads or on their laps. This could mean a police officer can pull over someone for looking down toward their lap in what may appear as someone using their cellphone.
“I think it’s important to protect public safety,” said Mackenzie Mathieu-Busher, a Leverett resident in her 20s. “I get the spirit of the law, but I hesitate to feel optimistic on any law that gives officers more power to pull people over.”