By ASHLEY BATSON
July 9, 2018
- Before July 1, Lyft driver Pierce Wilder, says he was on his phone – receiving requests for service, using GPS to locate customers and drop them off, and notifying Lyft when rides are successfully completed – about 90 percent of the time.
- Georgia’s new distracted driving law requires drivers to use hands-free technology when using cell phones and other electronic devices while driving.
- The Georgia Department of Public Safety said its troopers had written a total of 179 citations and 795 formal warnings in just a three-day period.
ATLANTA — Pierce Wilder’s vehicle is more than just his source of transportation, but more times than not, his headquarters too.
The Lyft driver says he spends each morning between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. getting in his blue Ford Fusion and hanging around Atlanta-Hartsfield Jackson Airport to receive requests for service. The riders ping the closest drivers and each driver has 8 seconds to accept it before Lyft gives the ride away to another driver in the same area.
Before July 1, Wilder says he was on his phone – receiving requests for service, using his GPS to locate customers and drop them off, and notifying Lyft when rides are successfully completed – about 90 percent of the time.
“The new law is a little annoying to adjust to,” Wilder said. “You can’t pick up the phone if you have to zoom in on maps to see if you missed a turn, and you can only see so much from the phone mount.”
Georgia’s new distracted driving law requires drivers to use hands-free technology when using cell phones and other electronic devices while driving. Drivers can only use their phones to make or receive phone calls by using a speakerphone, earpiece, wireless headphone, or phone is connected to the vehicle or an electronic watch.
This means holding or supporting, with any part of the body, a wireless telecommunications device or stand-alone electronic device is prohibited.
Writing, sending or reading any text-based communication, including a text message, instant message, email or internet data while holding your device is also prohibited.
Furthermore, watching a video or movie other than watching data related to the navigation of your vehicle is forbidden.
Hands-Free Law Loopholes
However, the hands-free law can get a little tricky. Though drivers are prohibited from touching their phones to activate a program or app, they are allowed to touch their cellphones to dial a number or receive or end a call.
So, what does this mean for rideshare drivers across Georgia who frequently touch their phones behind the wheel when they get requests for service?
Nobody is actually sure. While the law does state that any phone use is prohibited unless parked, answering a call in one swipe, or calling for a medical emergency, it is unclear about the terms of ‘touching’ a cellphone, or even how a deputy would verify if you were opening an app, answering a phone call or tapping to confirm a ride.
“Lyft requires us to tap our phones,” Wilder said. “If you don’t tap it, it’s a ‘ding’ on you. You have eight seconds until the ride goes to the next driver and then it reduces your acceptance rating by .05. Every driver starts out with a 5-acceptance rating and it can’t get lower than a 4.8.”
While the laws around touching cellphones remain unclear, Wilder says Lyft sent each driver multiple emails cautioning them about the new law.
Hands-Free Tickets and Formal Warnings
The Georgia Department of Public Safety said its troopers had written a total of 179 citations and 795 formal warnings in just a three-day period.
An Atlanta Police Department said the agency wrote 86 citations for hands-free violations over the same time period.
Many other departments, from the Gwinnett, and Dekalb police departments said they only update traffic statistics monthly and didn’t have any data regarding recent citations or formal warnings.
According to East Cobb News, State Representative John Carson said though the law does not give drivers a 90-day grace period, the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, the Georgia Department of Public Safety and local law enforcement officers said that many officers will be issuing warnings for violations in the first months of the law as part of the education effort, but citations can and will be issued where law enforcement officers believe they are warranted, especially those violation that involve traffic crashes.
Most do not track such warnings, making it hard to accrue the actual number of citations that have been handed out.
Hands-Free Conviction Fines
Lyft driver, Tracy Matthews, says she thinks that it’s going to be hard for rideshare drivers to retrain themselves from touching their phones.
“I think it’s going to take some time for Uber and Lyft drivers to get used to holding their phones,” she said. “We’re so used to being able to easily navigate from Google Maps to the Lyft app or to messages customers send to clarify their location, and now we have to condense that into one swipe.”
Atlanta resident, Jose Tereza says he disagrees.
“I don’t think it will be that difficult for drivers to adjust,” he said. “I feel most people have or have seen a phone mount, and it’s not hard to set up. Personally, I don’t want my Uber or Lyft driver holding their phone while I’m in the car.”
First-time convictions will result in a fine of $50 and will cost the driver one point on their license. For a second conviction within a 24-month period, a fine of $100 will be given and will cost the driver two points on their license. Three or more convictions will result in fines of $150 and will cost the driver three points on their license.
Motor vehicle fatalities in Georgia jumped by a third from 2014 to 2016, according to the Atlanta-Journal Constitution.
“I just hope this law saves lives because that’s what matters in the end,” Atlanta resident, Victoria Fisher said. “People think it could never happen to them or that they would never be the person that causes a mother and father to lose their child, or a husband to lose his fiancé, but news flash, no one ever does.”
Captain Capstone 