A ban on using hand-held cell phones and other wireless devices while driving overcame a key legislative hurdle yesterday and moves to the Senate floor, where proponents believe they will finally succeed in what they see as a decade-long battle for motorist safety.

A Senate committee narrowly approved a version of the bill yesterday, but only after amending it significantly to add several exemptions, to make hand-held cell phone use a violation only if a driver is pulled over for another traffic offense and to let the restriction expire after two years.

Some lawmakers, and even safety experts, question the usefulness of prohibiting drivers from holding wireless devices while continuing to allow them to talk through a hands-free device. The Maryland proposal would allow drivers to use wireless devices only with accessories such as headphone sets equipped with microphones.

With driver distraction identified as a major cause of accidents, similar laws have been enacted in 28 states and the District of Columbia. Many motorists interviewed yesterday thought it was time for Maryland to join them.

"If it saves lives and makes it safer for everybody, it makes sense - and I'm one of the offenders," said Mike Leishman, a Baltimore driver whose cell phone has a speaker device that enables him to speak with both hands on the wheel. "I try to use the speaker whenever I can."

The Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee voted 6 to 5 to approve the legislation yesterday; the House of Delegates has not yet acted on similar legislation. The bill makes it a secondary offense to talk, or to send or read text messages, with a hand-held wireless communication device while driving. The original bill would have allowed police officers to stop drivers solely for violating the prohibition.

Failure to wear a seat belt initially was a secondary offense in Maryland as well. It was later changed to allow a police officer to ticket for that offense alone, but that legal evolution took years. The legislature made seat belt use mandatory in the 1980s and didn't bump it to a primary offense until more than a decade later.

Lawmakers also changed the cell-phone bill to include exemptions for first-responders and for transport services for elderly and disabled people. And they reduced the fines, with the first-offense penalty halved to $50.

"If we can get any bill out this year, that's progress," said Sen. Mike Lenett, a Montgomery County Democrat sponsoring the bill. "It will help in terms of raising public awareness and education as to the dangerous nature of driving while talking on a hand-held cell phone."

But some lawmakers balked at the proposed ban.

"It's legislating common sense," said Sen. Nancy Jacobs, a Republican who represents Cecil and Harford counties. "People should be responsible adults and know how to behave and act reasonably. Next we're going to be telling people what radio station they can listen to and how loud they can listen to it."

Sen. Alex X. Mooney, a Frederick County Republican, pointed to a study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety that found other distractions, such as other passengers in the car, adjusting a car's stereo system and eating or drinking were factors in car crashes more often than using a cell phone.

Driver distraction contributes to as many as half of car accidents, said Fairley Mahlum, a spokeswoman for the AAA Foundation. She said drivers talking with a hands-free device are still distracted by the conversation, and they would still have to use their hands to dial or pick up a call.

"There is the misconception that a hands-free device makes you safe and you can talk away, whereas the behavior has to be eliminated altogether," she said.

No state has implemented a blanket ban on the use of wireless devices for all drivers.

Up the highway from the State House on Baltimore's busy Russell Street, dozens of drivers in the span of a half-hour maneuvered through traffic with one hand on the steering wheel and the other gripping a cell phone.

But with restrictions already in place in nearby states, including New York, some drivers said they're accustomed to talking hands-free.

Karen Brandli, who spends much of her time in the Washington and Baltimore areas for her job selling medical devices, said it has gotten "too dangerous" to drive in D.C. without her hands-free device because police monitor drivers. She said she clips a Bluetooth headset to her ear every time she steps into her sport utility vehicle.

"Your hands are supposed to be on the wheel," she said. "I have girlfriends in New York who I talk to on the phone, and they're always saying, 'Hold on, a cop is coming by.'"

Ashraf Elfeky, a taxi driver with the Checkers Cab Association in Baltimore, said his employer forbids using hand-held cell phones while driving and slaps drivers with a $50 fine if they are caught doing so. He agrees with the policy that forces him to pull over to talk on his cell phone, even though he contends with other distractions, such as dispatcher orders via a small computer screen and two-way radio.

As a frequent observer of on-the-road behavior, he said he's amazed by how poorly people drive when they are engrossed in a phone conversation.

"The worst are the lovebirds," he said.

laura.smitherman@baltsun.com nick.madigan@baltsun.com