Reckless driving penalties increase bill advances in House

Feb. 24-- Feb. 24--CHARLESTON -- Drivers convicted of reckless driving in West Virginia, even if it's caused by cell phone use, may soon see serious consequences if their driving caused a death or serous bodily injury in a crash.

A bill to increase penalties for reckless driving causing serious injury or death charges is advancing in the Legislature.

Sponsored by Del. John Shott (R-Mercer County), House Bill 2820 is scheduled for a third reading in the House Monday.

If approved by both chambers and signed by Gov. Jim Justice, the penalty for reckless driving causing serious bodily injury would increase from 10 days to six months in jail to two years to 10 years in prison. The fine would increase from $50 to $1,000 to $1,000 to $3,000.

The penalty for those convicted of reckless driving causing death is a new provision added to the law that was previously under the serious bodily injury portion.

That new provision in the law makes reckless driving causing death a felony and would carry a penalty of three to 15 yeas in prison and a $1,000 to $3,000 fine.

The change was suggested to Shott by Mercer County Prosecuting Attorney George Sitler.

"I asked Delegate Shott to consider this change after our office reviewed several recent accidents which resulted in serious bodily injury or death," he said. "The drivers in these accidents didn't seem to have been intoxicated, but cell-phone distraction was strongly suspected."

Sitler said the new penalties, if enacted, would be similar to those related to driving while under the influence.

"If HB 2820 is passed, it will enhance the possible penalties for reckless (or distracted) driving to make them equivalent to driving while impaired if death or serious bodily injury is the result," he said.

Reckless driving is defined in the law as driving with willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property.

The National Safety Council (NSC) says distracted driving is the main cause of crashes, and cell phone use is estimated to lead to 1.6 million crashes annually.

The NSC, on its website, said texting while driving is six times more likely to cause an accident than driving under the influence of alcohol is, and that now one out of every four (25 percent) traffic crashes that occur in the U.S. is caused by cell phone usage.

Overall crash statistics could indicate the rise of cell phone use while driving.

An estimated 40,000 people died in car crashes in 2016, the NSC says, which marks a 6 percent increase over 2015 and a 14 percent increase over 2014 -- the most dramatic two-year escalation since 1964.

But the cause is difficult to determine because the reporting of crash details is inadequate.

The NSC used the example of a failure to yeild right-of-way.

"The action of a driver failing to yield right-of-way is not the root cause for a crash," the NSC said. "A driver failing to yield right-of-way because he or she was not looking at the roadway gets closer to the answer, but is still not the root cause. A driver failing to yield right-of-way because he or she was looking at the passenger seat while reaching for a buzzing cell phone is the root cause. Even if using a handheld phone is legal in a state, the cell phone factor should be recorded so that data can better inform us of the scope of the cell phone distraction problem."

One of the recommendations of the NSC is to be more thorough in crash investigations.

"When collecting data from a crash scene is seen as merely 'filling out accident reports' for violation and insurance purposes, data that can help guide prevention strategies may not be captured," the NSC says. "The culture must change. A crash investigation must be conducted to determine and document the causal chain and all critical factors of the crash."

-- Contact

Charles Boothe at [email protected]

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