LRB-2710/1
ARG:kjf:pg
2005 - 2006 LEGISLATURE
March 14, 2006 - Introduced by Representatives Owens and Ainsworth. Referred
to Committee on Highway Safety.
AB1113,1,3
1An Act to amend 346.70 (3m) (c); and
to create 100.53 and 346.735 of the
2statutes;
relating to: motor vehicle accidents while using a cellular telephone,
3cellular telephone dealers, and providing a penalty.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Current law requires the Department of Transportation (DOT) to prepare a
uniform traffic accident report form or automated format for distribution to persons,
including law enforcement agencies, required to submit accident reports to DOT.
The form or automated format must include sufficiently detailed information to
disclose the conditions at the time of the accident, the persons and vehicles involved
in the accident, and the cause of the accident. This bill requires DOT to include in
the uniform traffic accident report form or automated format an area designating
whether a cellular telephone was being used by the operator of any vehicle at the time
of the accident.
The bill also creates a new form of traffic offense. If a person operating a motor
vehicle is primarily at fault for causing an accident and the person's use of a cellular
telephone contributed to causing the accident, the person is subject to various
penalties, from civil forfeiture to criminal misdemeanor penalties, depending on the
extent of injury involved. The person may also be required to pay restitution for any
loss suffered because of the accident. The bill further creates a rebuttable
presumption that if the operator of a motor vehicle is using a cellular telephone at
the time of an accident, the use of the cellular telephone contributed to causing the
accident.
The bill also prohibits a person in the business of selling or leasing cellular
telephones at retail from selling or leasing any cellular telephone unless, at the time
the cellular telephone is delivered to the purchaser or lessee, the cellular telephone
is accompanied by a written warning that using a cellular telephone while operating
a vehicle may be hazardous. A person who violates this prohibition may be required
to forfeit not more than $100 for each violation.
Because this bill creates a new crime or revises a penalty for an existing crime,
the Joint Review Committee on Criminal Penalties may be requested to prepare a
report concerning the proposed penalty and the costs or savings that are likely to
result if the bill is enacted.
For further information see the state fiscal estimate, which will be printed as
an appendix to this bill.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
AB1113, s. 1
1Section
1. 100.53 of the statutes is created to read:
AB1113,2,8
2100.53 Cellular telephone dealers. (1) No person in the business of selling
3or leasing cellular telephones at retail may sell or lease any cellular telephone unless,
4at the time the cellular telephone is delivered to the purchaser or lessee, the cellular
5telephone is accompanied by a written warning, prominently displayed, in
6substantially the following language in bold-faced capital letters of not less than
710-point type: "CAUTION: USING A CELLULAR TELEPHONE WHILE
8OPERATING A VEHICLE MAY BE HAZARDOUS."
AB1113,2,10
9(2) Any person who violates this section may be required to forfeit not more
10than $100 for each violation.
AB1113, s. 2
11Section
2. 346.70 (3m) (c) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB1113,3,312
346.70
(3m) (c) The department shall prepare and supply at its own expense
13to police departments, coroners, sheriffs and other suitable agencies or individuals,
14forms or an automated format for accident reports required to be made to the
15department. Any report forms and automated format shall call for sufficiently
1detailed information to disclose with reference to a traffic accident the cause,
2conditions then existing,
whether a cellular telephone was being used by the operator
3of any vehicle at the time of the accident, and the persons and vehicles involved.
AB1113, s. 3
4Section
3. 346.735 of the statutes is created to read:
AB1113,3,5
5346.735 Accidents while using cellular telephones. (1) In this section:
AB1113,3,76
(a) "Accident" means an accident for which the operator of a vehicle is required
7to give notice under s. 346.70 (1).
AB1113,3,88
(b) "Great bodily harm" has the meaning given in s. 939.22 (14).
AB1113,3,12
9(2) If the operator of a motor vehicle, other than an authorized emergency
10vehicle, is using a cellular telephone at the time that an accident occurs, there is a
11rebuttable presumption that the use of the cellular telephone contributed to causing
12the accident.
AB1113,3,15
13(3) If a person operating a motor vehicle is primarily at fault for causing an
14accident and the person's use of a cellular telephone contributed to causing the
15accident, the person:
AB1113,3,1716
(a) Shall forfeit not more than $300 if the accident did not involve death or
17injury to a person.
AB1113,3,1918
(b) Shall forfeit not less than $300 nor more than $1,000 if the accident involved
19injury to a person but the person did not suffer great bodily harm.
AB1113,3,2220
(c) Shall be fined not less than $1,000 nor more than $5,000 or imprisoned not
21more than 6 months in the county jail or both if the accident involved injury to a
22person and the person suffered great bodily harm.
AB1113,3,2523
(d) Shall be fined not less than $5,000 nor more than $10,000 or imprisoned not
24more than one year in the county jail or both if the accident involved death to a
25person.
AB1113,4,3
1(e) May be required by the court to pay restitution, in any amount determined
2appropriate by the court, to any person suffering loss because of the accident if proof
3of such loss is submitted to the satisfaction of the court.
AB1113,4,65
(1) The treatment of section 346.735 of the statutes first applies to accidents
6occurring on the effective date of this subsection.
AB1113,4,97
(2) The treatment of section 346.70 (3m) (c) of the statutes first applies to
8reports required to be made to the department of transportation for accidents
9occurring on the effective date of this subsection.
AB1113,4,1110
(3) The treatment of section 100.53 of the statutes first applies to cellular
11telephones sold or leased on the effective date of this subsection.
AB1113,4,1413
(1) This act takes effect on the first day of the 4th month beginning after
14publication.
