Lawmaker would let drivers store license, registration on phones

Howard Fischer Capitol Media Services
Saturday, February 11, 2012 12:00 am

PHOENIX - After years of debate about banning cellphone use while driving, state lawmakers are now looking at making the omnipresent cellphone a critical part of your driving experience.

The next time you're pulled over, instead of fishing for your wallet you might just have to hang up the call you were on - the one that caused you to run that red light in the first place - and flash the officer your phone.

The Legislature is dabbling with, and in some cases approving, changes that would allow drivers to store virtual licenses, registrations and proof of insurance on their phone.

All that assumes, of course, that you're actually driving the car at the time. Another change under consideration is whether the state should take the first steps to let "autonomous" driverless vehicles on state roads.

All these ideas are being pushed by state Rep. Jeff Dial, R-Chandler. He said it just makes sense for Arizona to stay one step ahead of the technology.

Consider the driver's license.

"I know whenever I go hiking or I go to the gym, one of the things you've always got to carry with you is that government-issued ID," he said. In fact, Dial said, that's often the only reason he has his wallet with him.

While someone behind the wheel of a vehicle should always have that wallet, Dial said that isn't always the case.

"People generally always grab their cellphone," he said. "I don't know that they always grab their wallet."

He envisions a "virtual" driver's license. That "document" would exist on the cellphone, containing exactly the same information as the plastic one. Dial said it also may be more secure.

He said it's not hard to find places on the Internet willing to produce counterfeit Arizona drivers licenses, complete with the security features and the hologram, for $400. He said the state could have a verification system where the phone would "ping" the Motor Vehicle Division computer.

Colleagues on the House Transportation Committee appear not quite ready to make that leap. So Dial is revising HB 2678 to form a committee to study the issue.

He had better luck with a plan to let motorists provide proof of insurance simply by showing a copy of the certificate on their smartphone.

HB 2677 lets drivers simply take a picture of the card with their phone and carry it. That photo would provide the same legal proof of minimum coverage as the card or actual insurance policy, the only documents now accepted.

Dial is also working on a measure to create a paperless registration certificate but did not push it this year because of the cost.

And then there are those driverless cars Dial believes will eventually be on Arizona roads.

His HB 2679 would require the state Department of Transportation to adopt rules authorizing "autonomous" vehicles, operated hands-free by computers using optics, lasers, radar, global positioning systems and something called LIDAR, for light-detecting and ranging, which uses a rotating mirror atop a vehicle to get a three-dimensional image of what is around it.

It would not actually permit ADOT to give the final green light to the driverless cars. What it would allow, though, is testing.

The plan hit a speed bump this past week when Dial could not get the Transportation Committee to approve it, but he vowed to bring it back later this session with some added high-profile backing.

"Google said they would be happy to fly people out here and educate people because they would like to come here and test a vehicle," he said.

Online
Want to see what Google is doing with driverless cars?
Sebastian Thrun: Google's driverless car - YouTube

Lawmaker would let drivers store license, registration on phones