WAILUKU - Maui Police Lt. Michael Kaho'ohanohano said that every day on island roads he sees drivers at stoplights punching out text messages or chatting away with one hand holding their phone to their ear.
But, starting Tuesday, many more drivers should have their eyes on the road, when the county's ban on using mobile electronic devices goes into effect.
Mayor Charmaine Tavares last week announced she planned to sign the bill into law, making Maui the last county in the state to implement such a ban.
Maui County Council Member Joe Pontanilla, who introduced the ban last fall, said the law should force enough drivers to put down their phones to improve safety and save at least some lives on Maui roads. Pontanilla said he proposed the measure after having some close calls of his own with distracted drivers.
County officials this week addressed some common questions about the coming ban.
Council Member Mike Victorino said it will be OK for someone to turn on a headset or a car-installed phone while driving.
But he added that drivers should use common sense if they want to avoid the ban's fine of $100 for a first offense and $250 for subsequent citations.
Drivers can use their phones to talk as long as they are not holding the devices in their hands, Pontanilla said, adding that they should only use the devices to receive calls, not to make them.
Officials encouraged people who feel a need to make calls while driving to invest in equipment that offers voice-activated dialing.
Anyone who has to dial their phone manually should do so before they start moving - and not at stoplights, Victorino said.
The action of making a call should be no more complex than turning on a radio, Pontanilla added.
"If it's hands free - those are the key words, 'hands free' - you can engage the call by pushing on your Bluetooth button or something on the dash. I've seen some out there that are similar to a garage door opener," he said.
Texting, typing e-mails, watching TV, playing games or reading on any of the electronic devices while driving are all no-nos, he added.
Victorino said he didn't think it should be a problem for people to use the earpiece-microphone devices that come as an accessory to many cell phones, as long as the driver has only one ear occupied. He pointed out that using headphones while driving is already illegal, because it could make it difficult to hear emergency vehicles.
The Maui Police Department announced last week that it would begin immediate enforcement of the new ordinance.
"Police officers throughout Maui County will stop and issue citations as appropriate, should the need arise," MPD said in a news release.
When he was asked how officers said they felt about having to write tickets for yet another new law, Kaho'ohanohano said, "it's not going to make the job harder . . . It won't be much of a challenge to enforce either. No one can hold a cell phone while driving. Period."
A number of people are exempt from the ban, including drivers calling 911.
People with commercial driver's licenses, or who drive fleet vehicles, would be allowed to use two-way radios or walkie-talkie type phones if required to do so as part of their business.
The ban was initially proposed last year, but its passage was delayed - first, while council members waited to see if the Legislature would pass a statewide ban, and later, to work out provisions for small businesses and people who drive for their jobs.
Nationwide, electronic devices and distracted driving are blamed for a number of accidents, with some studies finding that drivers who talk on phones have accident rates comparable to people who drive drunk.
But it's difficult to discern how many accidents the gadgets are actually responsible for.
Maui County police said their accident report forms don't include a space to note if the driver was distracted by an electronic device. And Kaho'ohanohano said he's never heard of a driver who admitted to using a cell phone during an accident, even when asked by police.
However, authorities told council members that cell phone ban laws appear to already be reducing use.
They said that since Oahu put its ban into place a year ago, police have issued more than 3,000 citations. Out of those, only 12 percent are repeat offenders.
Critics of the Maui ban have said it's unnecessary because the state already has a law on the books that punishes "inattention to driving."
But advocates note that the state law doesn't include any language that applies specifically to the use of electronic devices.
For more information and to read the new ordinance, go to www.co.maui.hi.us/CivicAlerts.aspx.
* Chris Hamilton can be reached at chamilton@mauinews.com.
