A year and a half later, Bachman was a prominent advocate of New Hampshire's distracted driving law, which went into effect July 1, 2015, and made it illegal not only to text behind the wheel, but to manipulate any handheld electronic device for any reason.
But has the law made a difference?
The answer depends on who is asked.
New Hampshire State Police contends that the number of distracted drivers has significantly declined statewide, though there is more work to be done.
But police departments in Southern New Hampshire say they're seeing as many texting drivers — and the accidents and reckless driving that result — as before.
Over the lifespan of the distracted driving law, state police have issued more than 4,300 citations and given 4,282 warnings. Over the Thanksgiving weekend, troopers across the state issued 40 citations to distracted drivers.
Forty may seem like a small number for such a busy travel weekend, but Capt. Matthew Shapiro said while many drivers were truly compliant, the troopers' attention is often diverted from patrolling for such violations — be it by a crash, a speeder or their myriad other responsibilities.
"I have no problem candidly saying that we have to do more to both message the law and also to engage in strict enforcement, but the reality is a lot of the time our (attention) gets divided."
That said, Shapiro said he's seen a significant decline in the number of drivers using their phones while on the road.
"It continues to be a significant problem, one of the leading causes of crashes, including serious crashes," he said. "But there's no doubt, at least anecdotally, that it occurs far less than it did before."
"For the troopers who are out there and go out and work the road, they are able to find these violations, but you have to work at it, which is a good sign that a significant portion of the driving population has voluntarily complied," Shapiro added.
While Shapiro said he used to see drivers on their phone every "seventh, eighth or ninth car," it has started to take more effort for troopers to find violators.
But he is quick to say there is still plenty of work to be done.
"I think you have to look at it in the context of what it's like to try to change a thoroughly ingrained driving behavior. It takes time," Shapiro said, comparing the new law to the driving under the influence laws that took effect decades ago, initially to much resistance.
"It was just something that was a major cultural change for the driving public."
Local resistance stems from 'a way of life'
In Salem, Lt. Shane Smith said he felt that despite being in a border town, his department has seen a decline in distracted driving. Massachusetts does not have the same hands-free law as the Granite State.
"I'd say it's significantly less now that it was initially, in July (2015), but ... it still happens," he said.
Neighboring police departments were more likely to agree with the caveat to Smith's statement: it still happens.
"Honestly, I think it's about the same," said Chief Al Brackett of the Atkinson Police Department. "I think we have seen more accidents with people using handheld devices over the last year."
Indeed, Atkinson has seen a 28 percent increase in car accidents over the last year and a 76 percent increase in traffic stops, though those numbers are not specific to violations of the distracted driving law.
So far in 2016, Atkinson police officers have issued 106 warnings and 19 citations specific to drivers using handheld electronics while driving.
Brackett said he thinks the number of citations being issued has increased in the last six months as his officers begin to make the connection between accidents and cell phones.
"It's a difficult ticket for police officers to write," Brackett said. "They're compassionate ... it's expensive and it hurts people financially."
The fine for texting while driving is $100 for first offenders, but becomes more expensive with each subsequent offense.
"I think people are just, for lack of a better word, addicted to their mobile devices and can't take the time to pull over to use it," Brackett added.
Plaistow Police Chief Kathleen Jones agreed that there is a long road ahead in trying to curb cell phone use behind the wheel.
"People are aware of the law, they know the law, they know they're not supposed to be talking on the phone, but they just can't help themselves sometimes," she said. "Even as a police chief, I'll be driving home, and I'll get a text and hear the ding or whatever and your first thought is: 'Oh, I've got to grab it.'"
Plaistow officers have made 224 traffic stops for distracted driving since the law was enacted in 2015, and issued 48 citations.
"Your whole life is on that phone," Jones added. "No wonder you're buried in it. It's a way of life."
Cracking down
At least one department is preparing to up the ante on its patrols to enforce the new law meaningfully."The distracted driver issue has not improved. It appears to be significantly worse as more people are using mobile electronic devices," said Capt. Vern Thomas of the Derry Police Department by email.
Shapiro of the state police, too, pointed to the advent of smart phones, noting that it drove up electronic device usage — a trend once reserved for teens — in older age groups.
Fifty-two percent of drivers reported owning a smartphone in 2011, according to distraction.gov, the United States' official government website for distracted driving.
By 2014, that number had jumped to 80 percent.
"In the coming months, we will be enhancing our efforts to address the issue," Thomas said.
Thomas noted that in one way, the law has somewhat added to the danger, by compelling drivers to hold their phone below the car windows to avoid detection, thus taking their eyes even further from the road.
That same government website, distraction.gov, said that in five seconds — the average amount of time taken to read or send a text — a car moving at 55 mph can cross the length of a football field.
Shapiro, though confident the law is making a difference, said he acknowledged "you can't stifle communication."
Instead, he said, drivers are urged to use dashboard cradles and Bluetooth technology that allow them to use their devices without being manually tied up.
"It doesn't completely mitigate distraction but it makes it the best it's going to be," he said.
Smith, of the Salem Police Department, and Jones of Plaistow both mentioned new vehicle technologies as well, crediting them for much of whatever decline in phone use there has been.
Shapiro hypothesized that much like drunken driving, it would take time and a sway of public opinion to change the reality of distracted driving.
"It's like turning an oil tanker," he said. "It doesn't turn on a dime."
©2016 The Eagle-Tribune (North Andover, Mass.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
