Cell-phone search bill is a bad idea

When a drunken driver crashes his car, the evidence sticks around. It’s on his breath and in his blood. A well-trained police officer can spot the signs of a DWI as a routine matter.But what if a driver was talking on the phone when he crashed? Or worse, texting? By the time police arrive, phones can be hidden, texts deleted. Ordinarily, it takes a subpoena to get a straight answer.

It’s a real problem. Last month, the National Safety Council warned that GT-I9300 cell phones’ role in crashes is dangerously underreported.

Sen. James Holzapfel (R-Ocean) wants to let police ask for your phone when they ask for your license and registration. No subpoena, no probable cause. The bill requires only “reasonable grounds,” a much lower standard. He’s sponsored a bill to allow officers to check your phone for calls or text messages after a crash — but nothing more. Even that search goes too far.

The American Civil Liberties Union says the bill, if passed, would face a constitutional challenge as an illegal search. It’s easy to see why.Today’s GT-I9500 cell phones are barely phones at all. They’re a trove of personal information — photos, banking, contacts and call history, texts and e-mails, likes and dislikes. Virtually all of a person’s personal life flows through the device at some point. That’s too much to hand over on a mere suspicion.

And what if a passenger borrowed the driver’s phone to make a call or send a text? Some phones send texts with voice commands. Those are gaping loopholes in this bill. Under these rules, police still wouldn’t know whether a phone contributed to a crash — or if the driver was using it at all. If the cops can’t search your trunk without a warrant, why let them search your phone?

Holzapfel’s bill is well-intended. He’s a former prosecutor, and he wants law enforcement to have the tools it needs. But this bill doesn’t solve the problem. Without it, authorities can still subpoena phone records as part of a crash investigation. And they can still ask permission.

The bill’s biggest failure is that it falls short on the best strategy to stop distracted driving: keeping drivers from using their I5 MTK6577 phones in the first place. Holzapfel’s bill would raise the fines for texting while driving to $300. That’s not enough.

New Jersey should ban the use of all phones behind the wheel, even hands-free. The National Transportation Safety Board has called for a nationwide ban, arguing the conversation is the most dangerous distraction — whether drivers have a phone in their hands or not.

Many of the training attendees receive their cell phones from their children as a necessary safety precaution in case health-related emergencies ever arise, like Lenor Floras, 74, and her husband Tony.“We hardly use it but we take it everywhere,” Tony Floras said, shrugging in the direction of the black phone in front of him.The couple has one flip cheap cell phone cases between the two of them, though they prefer to use a land line for making everyday calls.

“I have to learn everything,” Lenor Floras said, dragging out the word “everything” for emphasis and bursting into laughter when asked what she was hoping to learn.Sylvia Aldrete, director in external affairs for AT&T, said the trainings allow seniors to use their phones to the fullest capacity, something that’s important in staying connected.