Colorado drivers can keep munching on chicken legs and tapping out text messages while driving without fear of added fines.
A House committee killed a bill Tuesday that would have doubled the penalties for drivers who commit a traffic violation while distracted.
Distractions listed in the bill included talking on a cellphone, eating, grooming or fussing with a digital music player.
“I’m a bit concerned that your bill is going to be labeled the chicken-leg bill,” Rep. Buffie McFadyen, D-Pueblo West, told the sponsor of the measure, Rep. Paul Weissmann.
The Democrat from Louisville, who confessed to eating plenty of fried chicken in his car, proposed the legislation because he is fed up with distracted drivers swerving, not signaling and causing accidents.
Weissmann did not want to ban using cellphones or iPods while driving, but instead leave it up to law enforcement to decide whether a driver should get extra fines for not paying attention to the road.
Others, though, were not convinced of the bill’s merits.
Richard Randall from the Libertarian Party of Colorado said the ramifications of “additionally punishing people for why they violated the law” were frightening.
Others complained there was too much discretion for police officers to determine whether a driver was actually distracted.
The transportation committee killed the bill on a 10-3 vote.
Staff writer Jennifer Brown can be reached at 303-954-1593 or jenbrown@denverpost.com.
