TRENTON — Joyce Vence and her husband, John Guslavage, had been looking forward to last week for quite a while. The two were planning to travel from their Elizabeth home to Trenton on Thursday to speak before an Assembly committee that, they thought, was planning to discuss and vote on a bill called Kulesh and Kubert’s Law. It would...
Joyce Vence's mother, Helen Kulesh, was killed as she crossed an Elizabeth intersection five years ago. Vence in this Jan. 31 file photo holds a photo of her late mother as she stands at the intersection where she was killed in Elizabeth.TRENTON — Joyce Vence and her husband, John Guslavage, had been looking forward to last week for quite a while.
The two were planning to travel from their Elizabeth home to Trenton on Thursday to speak before an Assembly committee that, they thought, was planning to discuss and vote on a bill called Kulesh and Kubert’s Law. It would establish prison sentences for drivers who kill or seriously injure someone while using a cell phone.
The measure is named in part after Vence’s mother, Helen Kulesh — an 89-year-old who was killed five years ago as she was walking across Grove Street in Elizabeth. Kulesh was hit and killed by a driver talking on her cell, Vence and Guslavage said.
But the bill, which has sat in the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee since last June, was pulled from the agenda before it was published. The Assembly’s Democratic leadership refused to put the bill up — citing an apparent need for more statistics.
"On all the driving bills there’s always a concern about making sure we have all the data before it goes into a committee — in terms of impact, trends, national stuff," said Assembly Majority Leader Joseph Cryan (D-Union). "That’s all it is."
The measure would add violations of the state’s hands-free cell phone law to a list of things considered reckless, like drinking or drug use. That means a driver who kills someone while talking or texting could be charged with vehicular homicide, or a driver who seriously injures someone might face an assault-by-auto charge.
Because of the delay, the legislation won’t be considered for months, until after the budget process is completed. Assemblyman Gordon Johnson (D-Bergen), the committee chair, said there may not be another chance to discuss it until September.
He had initially included the bill on his agenda, bundled alongside another proposal that would increase the fines for talking and texting while driving, but said the leadership thought more research was needed. That could mean some amendments, but he still expects to hold discussion by the end of the year.
"This is just a delay. It’s not permanent," said Johnson, who called talking or texting while driving "a dangerous situation."
Permanent or not, the delay is still frustrating for Vence, who had worked with Assemblywoman Annette Quijano (D-Union), a primary sponsor, in drafting the legislation.
"How many deaths and injuries do we really need in the state of New Jersey for them to do something? How many more?" Vence asked. "I’m just really disappointed."
The legislation is also named after David and Linda Kubert, who each lost a leg when a teen driver, who they say was texting on his cell phone, drove his pickup truck into their Harley-Davidson motorcycle as they rode through Mine Hill in 2009. They’re among the thousands of New Jersey residents injured in cell-related crashes since 2006.
State Sen. Richard Codey (D-Essex), who is sponsoring a separate bill to increase the penalties for violating the hands-free cell law, thinks he could support the Senate version of Kulesh and Kubert’s Law, which won’t be discussed until the Assembly version moves forward. Codey said he believes those who talk or text while driving are more dangerous than drunk drivers.
"It takes him or her longer to react to a situation on the road than if they had been drinking," he said. "So, I understand the logic behind (Kulesh and Kubert’s Law)."