Jacy Good sees Pennsylvania as an island of dangerous driving.

Most bordering states have laws banning the use of hand-held cell phones while operating a motor vehicle. A similar proposal lies in limbo in Harrisburg.

"We're the odd man out right now," said Good, who became a high-profile cell-phone-free driving advocate after a traffic accident killed her parents and left her with severe head, leg and left arm injuries.

The tragedy happened two years ago as Jay and Jean Good were driving their daughter home to Brunnerville after her Muhlenberg College graduation. The crash was caused by an 18-year-old man talking on his cell phone.

Good, who still uses a cane, discussed her experiences on the "Oprah Winfrey Show" in April. She also has taped public service announcements and testified on behalf of House Bill 67, a measure that would have outlawed the use of cell phones while driving in Pennsylvania.

But House lawmakers on July 1 rejected the Senate version of the so-called "Jacy Good Law."

And Good is glad.

Most of the teeth, including the cell phone ban, had been removed from the measure, said Good, who now lives in New York. "I'm very happy that the House ... would not accept the watered-down version."

She remains hopeful that the two chambers can pass a protective measure by the end of the legislative session this fall. A strong law is the best way to raise awareness, she added.

"No matter how safe you think you are when you're doing it, your brain isn't capable of talking on a cell phone and driving at the same time."

Prying out the phones
The campaign to pry cell phones out of Pennsylvania drivers' hands is in its fifth year for Montgomery County Rep. Josh Shapiro and Bucks County Rep. Katharine Watson.

Shapiro said he thought such a proposal simply made good public policy –– then he met Good and other crash victims and got rear-ended himself by a cell-phone-distracted driver.

"It started to become personal," said Shapiro, who received minor injuries in the accident.

The issue has heated up more recently as texting has proliferated and more cell-phone-related crashes have been reported.

The District of Columbia and nine states, including Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey and New York, have banned hand-held cell phone use by all drivers, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

In Pennsylvania last year, a Quinnipiac University poll found that 85 percent of voters supported such prohibitions.

In March, Allentown joined Harrisburg, Philadelphia and Erie, among other Pennsylvania cities, in OK'ing a cell phone ban for drivers.

"Jacy's strength and courage have helped us earn votes" and focus attention on distracted driving, said Shapiro, who added that few public policy issues enjoy such wide, bipartisan backing.

But there's still no consensus.

Very few would argue that texting while driving is a smart idea, said Gary Biller, president of the Wisconsin-based drivers' rights group National Motorists Association.

Yet, he added, targeting cell phones while ignoring other distractions –– eating in the car or dealing with kids or pets, for example –– is inconsistent and could lead to a legal morass.

"One of the difficulties we have ... how does the officer go about proving what was going on in the vehicle?"

Even some cell-phone-free driving advocates contend that getting teens to wear their seat belts and limit the number of friends riding in their cars is more critical.

According to the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, the presence of a single peer passenger doubles the fatal crash risk for first-year drivers; three or more peer passengers quadruples it.

Strong statistical data from other states supports the idea that passenger restrictions save lives, said the center's outreach program director, Suzanne Hill; reliable figures on cell-phone-sparked crashes are less plentiful.

Rep. Watson was an HB 67 co-sponsor along with Lancaster County legislators Dave Hickernell and Scott Boyd. She said she went along with the Senate version because it would have made failure to buckle up a primary offense for which teens could be pulled over.

That was a good starting point, she said.

Hickernell also concurred.

It wasn't an easy vote, he said, but, like Watson, he reasoned it's easier to strengthen an existing law than make a new one from scratch.

Chances that the chambers will reach a compromise this year are slim, Hickernell added; House lawmakers will be in session fewer than 20 more days before adjourning Nov. 30, and the Senate fewer than 12.

The House voted 126-71 to reject the Senate alterations.

Western Pennsylvania Rep. Joseph Markosek, HB 67's prime sponsor, contends that the changes made by the Senate were "far too drastic."

Markosek said the original initiative combined two proposals, HB 67, which besides the seat belt mandate prohibited all cell phone use for teen drivers, and HB 2070.

The second measure, to block adults from using their cells to talk or text while driving, was axed entirely by the Senate.

Calls Thursday and Friday to Joe Scarnati, state Senate president pro tempore, and state Sens. Lloyd Smucker and Mike Brubaker, representing Lancaster County, were not returned.

A few lawmakers have told Markosek they oppose a cell phone ban because they themselves might be reined in, he said.

Then, he added, "there's always that [sentiment] 'get government out of my car' or whatever."

HB 67 advocates argue a cell phone law is different than, for example, a law mandating motorcycle helmets.

People who chose not to wear protective gear risk personal injury, Jacy Good pointed out. Those who text and drive endanger everyone else on the road.

No law can ensure safety, she conceded.

"In New York [cell phone use while driving] is illegal but you see it all the time."

Still, Good added, if a regulation changes the behavior of just a few people, it can save lives.

"You have to work on the education as much as the legislation," she said.