Delegate Nancy Guthrie, 30th District

What a difference your opinion makes. Last year Kanawha County Senator Dan Foster was able to move and see passed legislation that restricts the use of cell phones by student drivers. It is a good piece of public safety legislation and one that should make West Virginians proud. If it saves even one young life it will have served its purpose.

Somehow though, it didn’t seem fair to single out students without imposing similar restrictions on adult drivers. So this year I and several of my colleagues introduced a bill to extend the cell phone use restrictions to all drivers. Using cell phones when reporting emergencies is exempt.

The facts are indisputable. Distracted driving puts all of us in danger. This legislation will give us a means to begin gathering data on how many accidents result from drivers who become distracted while using cell phones.

The bill died in Committee once because so many members brought up other driver behaviors that also cause dangerous distractions. But then you all started to weigh in. Suddenly the bill is now being revived for further consideration. Legislation is an odd thing I’m finding out. I had few hopes for passage of this bill this year. Now, I’m cautiously optimistic.

On another note, I’d like to report that students in the 30th District of Kanawha County weighed in to oppose the Promise Scholarship idea to tie eligibility to a work commitment after graduation. At first blush it sounded like a good idea but after hearing from the student population in Kanawha County, I believe they have it right.

If we were cranking out job opportunities in the thousands it might be worth exploring but as our economy stands now, it seems an unreasonable expectation. So score one for the students of Kanawha County. Better we put the horse before the cart and create the jobs first. Then we can talk about revising the Promise Scholarship program requirements.