Rep. Joanne Giannini, left, at a House committee hearing yesterday, sponsored a bill that would “make unlawful the use of a non-hands-free mobile telephone and/or text messaging” while driving.

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The Providence Journal / Connie Grosch

Amid growing reports nationwide of fatal car accidents tied to cell phone use, Rhode Island lawmakers are considering a pair of bills that would ban hand-held mobile telephones and prohibit text messaging while driving.

This is not the first time the General Assembly has looked at legislation compelling drivers to use hands-free devices. But never before has it extended the proposed ban to include text and instant messaging.

Text messaging, which presumably requires drivers to take their eyes off the road in order to type messages or send e-mails, has been cited as the cause of an accident in Massachusetts that killed a 13-year-old Taunton boy last month. The New Bedford man charged in his death allegedly lost control of his SUV while sending a text message and smashed into the boy as he rode his bike. The driver told the police he thought he had hit a mailbox. He was charged with motor vehicle homicide and awaits trial.

Across the country, there are dozens of similar stories. In July, five members of a teenage cheerleading squad in New York were killed when a young woman driving an SUV full of friends lost control of the vehicle as she sent a text message and slammed head-on into a truck.

“Any distraction while driving is a bad distraction, but texting may be one of the worst,” said Rep. Joseph M. McNamara, D-Warwick, who sponsored one of the bills. “I don’t know of anyone who is that good a driver to be able to keep their eyes on the road at the same time they are writing, sending or reading a text message. It’s especially dangerous for young drivers, who are still getting a feel for their automobile and the road.”

In 2006, Rhode Island lawmakers banned drivers under age 18 from using cell phones at the wheel. The new amendment would extend and clarify that law to include text-messaging. First and second offenses would carry a $50 fine, while third and subsequent infractions would be punishable by a $100 fine and possibly a loss of license until the user’s 18th birthday.

The second bill calls for a ban on all hand-held phones, meaning drivers who want to talk on the phone would need to purchase hands-free headsets. That legislation would also ban text messaging for drivers of all ages and tack on a $100 fine for repeat offenders.

A 2007 survey by AAA and Seventeen magazine found that 46 percent of 16-  and 17-year-old drivers said they text message while driving and 51 percent talk on cell phones while driving.

It’s not just teenagers. In a recent Zogby poll, 66 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds said that they’ve driven while texting. And now that Blackberries and other PDA devices have become more popular, many adults are also guilty of driving while typing, legislators say.

“You wouldn’t open a computer and start typing while driving, so why be texting? It’s ridiculous,” said Joanne M. Giannini, D-Providence, sponsor of the second bill.

Rhode Island was nearly one of the first states in the nation to do something about cell-phone drivers when the General Assembly approved a bill banning hand-held phones in 2001. But then-Gov. Lincoln Almond vetoed the legislation.

Since then cell phone legislation has become something of a perennial issue in Rhode Island, though it has never again won passage. Some critics have said they believe such a law is overreaching. Others say it’s not sweeping enough. The problem is not holding the phone, they say; it’s holding a conversation on the phone while trying to operate a car.

At a hearing last night, members of the House Corporations Committee showed strong support for the text-messaging proposals, though several seemed skeptical about an outright ban on hand-held cell phones. A representative from AT&T/Cingular said the company has no objections to the proposed legislation as a safety measure. Last year, Verizon testified as to that company’s support.

In recent years, at least five states, including Connecticut and New York, plus the District of Columbia, have banned drivers from using hand-held cell phones. The fines have reportedly brought thousands of dollars into the states’ coffers. A handful of other states are considering other kinds of cell-phone bans.

So far just two states — Washington and New Jersey — have prohibited text messaging while driving. New Jersey’s law goes into effect in March.

The House Corporations Committee voted last night to hold the Rhode Island bills for further study. Similar legislation is before the Senate.

cneedham@projo.com