Capital Rants

Zapping cell phones

Certain state lawmakers have their sights set on our cell phones. Specifically, they’d like to zap our ability to chat on a hand-held cell phone while driving.

Surprised? You shouldn’t be. And if it happens, we have only ourselves to blame.

I’ll be among those disappointed if the state Legislature adopts a proposal introduced Tuesday by state Rep. Josh Shapiro, a Montgomery County Democrat. Under his bill, motorists could be pulled over just for talking on a cell phone. Fines would start at $50.

As someone who drives 45 minutes from my home in Hanover to my office in downtown York, I’ve always believed I can talk safely on a hand-held cell phone during that trip. I mean, what’s the difference between talking on the phone and holding a conversation with someone riding in the passenger seat?

But I restrict the cell phone conversations to a certain portion of the trip, specifically while I’m traveling the less congested portion of Route 30, between Abbottstown and its intersection with Route 116.

I resist the temptation to make a cell phone call while sitting in the traffic-light-to-traffic-light congestion that is Route 30 in York. And I’d never dream of answering a cell phone call while driving through certain areas, like the Hanover Crossing Shopping Center in Hanover (think Wal-Mart). That parking lot is an accident waiting to happen minus the slightest distraction.

But you know what, I slip up occasionally. I recall punching in a number to call someone while driving traffic light to traffic light on Route 30 … and nearly rear-ending the car in front of me.

Lots of drivers show no discipline whatsoever. I’m shocked at the number of people who have no reluctance to chat away on cell phones in downtown York, while dodging trash trucks, parking vehicles and lost drivers who have no idea what they’re doing. I’m equally shocked at the number of drivers who buzz through the busiest intersections on Route 30, cell phone firmly pressed to their ear.

It’s as though talking on the cell phone is an addiction.

If so, it’s a pretty dangerous one, according to Shapiro. He points to PennDOT statistics citing cell phones as a factor in 5,700 accidents between 2002 and 2006.

Now, statistics can be manipulated, so I called PennDOT to double check that one. What I discovered is that by “factor,” PennDOT simply means police reports indicated a driver was using a cell phone at the time of an accident — not that the use of a cell phone contributed to the accident.

And you need to put those 5,700 accidents in perspective. In 2006, cell phones were being used when 1,247 accidents occurred. That’s less than 1 percent of the total accidents reported — 128,203.

Still, I’d be lying if I said I saw no merit in Shapiro’s legislation.

But as thousands of Harley-Davidson lovers descend on York, I’ll add this. Any lawmaker who supports a ban on using hand-held cell phones while driving had better be ready to vote to reinstate Pennsylvania’s motorcycle helmet law, too.

Perhaps lots of lawmakers need to find an empty parking lot, get down on their hands and knees and butt their head into the pavement a time or two to remind themselves how hard it is (it meaning the pavement, not their heads).

Banning cell phones for safety’s sake and allowing motorcyclists to zip around helmet free for fear of backlash from biker groups would be the height of hypocrisy.

Gov, take the $8 million and run

Gov. Ed Rendell:

Consider this some free fiscal advice.

Take that $8 million in grant money you were going to put toward the Susquehanna Heritage Park and find a better use for it.

Anyone who expects the debate over the future of Lauxmont Farms to end with Friday’s announcement that the commissioners will stop their quest to seize the property hasn’t been following the twists and turns this story has taken since March of 2004.

But, for now, it looks like the Susquehanna Heritage Park won’t include an acre of Lauxmont property. And, if that’s the case, what’s left isn’t worth $8 million of state taxpayer money.

Gone is the promised Gateway Visitor Center, where visitors would learn about “the historical, cultural and environmental resources of the Lower Susquehanna Valley.”

Gone is the promised Native American Heritage Center, “a museum and educational facility focused on the rich Native American heritage of the region.”

Gone are the 345,000 annual visitors to the grand park that county officials had envisioned. And the $35 million per year in visitor spending that was supposed to be pumped into the local economy by those tourists.

The only way we’ll see those type of numbers now is if your office gives the county permission to plop a casino on top of what’s left of the Susquehanna Heritage Park — the 80-acre Highpoint site.

Otherwise, we’re left with a steep hill with a pretty view.

And a steep price tag.

Is that worth an $8 million investment by the state?

Not hardly.

If you pull the grant, it would be bad news for county taxpayers, who might be forced to cover some of the cost of this fiasco.

But it would also serve as a wonderful cautionary tale for future elected officials might find themselves tempted to seize private property for something as nonessential as a new park.

Firing energy-efficient darts at the governor

If anyone expected Pennsylvania lawmakers to adopt a more concillatory tone yesterday when the state Legislature reconvened for the first time since July’s budget dustup … well, let’s just say battle lines have already been drawn on one major issue.

House Republicans came out guns blazing during a half-hour press conference laying out their energy plan. And York County’s own Stan Saylor was at the head of the pack.

After briefly applauding Gov. Ed Rendell for tackling such a challenging issue, Saylor went on to explain why he thinks the governor’s plan for tackling the issue is so wrong-headed. House colleagues Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny) and Scott Hutchinson (R-Venango/Butler) chimed in.

You’ll recall the governor’s energy plan called for a new surcharge on everyone’s electricity bills, a surcharge his office said would cost the average residential customer about $6 per year. That revenue would be used to cover the cost of an $850 million bond issue. That money to be spent providing rebates for residents who buy energy-efficient appliances and to provide grants and incentives to businesses that conserve energy or develop alternative energy sources.

House Republicans’ assessment of his plan:

“The governor’s proposal would punish all Pennsylvanians — the moms and dads, grandmothers and grandfathers who are already trying to lower their energy bills by conserving energy — with a new tax on their electric bill,” said Saylor, predicting the governor’s surcharge would really wind up costing residents between $20 and $100 per year and would be even more costly to businesses.

“We’re already facing higher energy bills. Why would we want to increase our own?” asked Hutchinson, referring in part to expiring rate caps that are expected to send residents’ electricty bills spiraling in the years to come.

“The governor wants $850 million to spend now so your kids and grandkids can pay it back,” added Turzai.

Saylor even took a poke at Rendell’s apparent need for speed in a followup news release, noting the governor admitted instructing the state police chauffeurs who drive his vehicle not to exceed 80 mph. That’s 15 mph above the state’s highest posted speed limit and a speed at which vehicles are less fuel efficient.

“Telling others to conserve energy while you’re burning it left and right is pure hypocrisy,” Saylor said in the release.

Between firing darts at the governor, the three Republicans outlined the House GOP energy plan, formulated by a task force on which Saylor served as chairman. In part, it would:

* Offer sales tax exemptions — not rebates — on the purchase of energy-efficient appliances. The sales tax exemption would also be available on home improvements made with energy efficiency in mind, such as the installation of solar panels or energy-saving windows.

* Offer tax credits — not grants — for businesses that take efforts to conserve energy or develop alternative sources of energy.

* Require an energy audit of state-owned buildings and mandate a 10 percent energy reduction by 2010. More hybrid vehicles would be added to the state’s fleet.

The key, according to Saylor: No new taxes, no new borrowing at a time when “Pennsylvania taxpayers are running on empty.”

And so the battle lines have been drawn. 

The governor makes his pitch on energy on Monday. 

Surprise, surprise: Helmets save lives

Is anyone out there shocked that the National Transportation Safety Board concluded motorcylists should wear helmets?

I mean, surprise, surprise, motorcycle fatalities have increased in Pennsylvania since 2003, when lawmakers idiotically repealed the state’s helmet law.

Motorcycle fatalities averaged 126 from 1997 through 2003, while the helmet law was still in effect, according to PennDOT statistics. An average of 183 motorcyclists died in crashes from 2004 through 2006, once helmets became optional.

The statistics don’t tell us how many Pennsylvania motorcyclists have slightly more scrambled brains because they didn’t wear a helmet.

But the NTSB notes that non-helmeted riders are three times more likely to suffer a brain injury than someone wearing a helmet.

Motorcycle enthusiasts point to more riders and more miles ridden as the reason behind the increase in fatalities.

Hogwash.

But even with a fresh new recommendation from the NTSB in hand, don’t count on Pennsylvania coming to its senses on this issue.

During an interview with our editorial board  prior to his re-election, Gov. Ed Rendell made it clear he wouldn’t support a reinstatement of the helmet law. And he has three more years in office.

So our best bet is federal intervention. Remember a few years back, when federal officials decided the legal limit for drunk driving should change.

Congress didn’t tell states they had to lower the blood alcohol content at which someone could be charged with drunk driving to .08. (Pennsylvania’s legal limit was .10 at the time.) They simply told state governments that those who didn’t comply would risk losing highway funding.

Pretty quickly, Pennsylvania lowered the BAC to .08.

Maybe we need a similar strong-armed stance from the feds on motorcycle helmets.

Of course, drunk drivers don’t have very effective lobbyists.

Motorcyclists do.

Which is how we got into this helmetless mess in the first place.

A little too much testing

I’ve always believed there should be a way to hold public schools accountable. After all, school districts spend millions in tax dollars each year.That said, I’m not exactly giddy about the state’s latest gotcha gimmick — graduation tests seniors would have to pass in order to get a diploma.  The state already administers the PSSA tests. From everything I’ve heard, classroom instruction comes to a screeching halt as PSSA time approaches in local schools. There are training sessions on taking the PSSAs. There are pep talks to make sure kids know to take the PSSAs seriously. Followed by the test itself.

Now the state Board of Education is tinkering with the notion of devising new subject-based “graduation competency exams.” Students would be expected to take those as well as the PSSAs. The requirement: Do well on one or the other, or you aren’t graduating.

I can just imagine local educators cringing at the notion. How much more state meddling can they possibly be expected to withstand?

Heck, I cringe at the notion, and it’s not my business state officials are meddling in.

But it is my tax money. And I can envision a cumbersome and costly new state bureaucracy responsible for devising the tests, updating the tests and analyzing the results.

All of which defies logic, because we already have the PSSAs. For years, we’ve been told they’re an accurate measure of students’ abilities, of a school district’s performance. By 2014, every student in every school district in this state is expected to test proficient or above on the math portion and the reading portion of those exams.

If they’re so important, why not just use the PSSAs as the graduation exam?

The answer: Lots of high school seniors would never get their diplomas. You’d hear howls of protest from Erie to Philadelphia to Pittsburgh.

Most local districts met PSSA expectations this year. But the expectations were pretty darn modest. In most districts, about 40 percent of students still failed to test proficient on the math test. In the York City School District, only 22 percent tested proficient or better in math.

You’re going to flunk 78 percent of a school district’s senior class? Doubtful.

So the state had to come up with a new gotcha gimmick. Oh, state officials wouldn’t call it that, but let’s face facts. If state officials thought local school districts were being honest about the credentials of the students they graduate, there would be no need for new statewide graduation tests.

So my question is this: Who’s going to hold the state accountable? After all, state officials apparently can’t grasp a basic mathematical concept — more students might require more state funding to educate — after years of complaints from local school districts.

Gotcha.