Law that bans holding cell phones while driving signed by Pennsylvania governor
HARRISBURG, Pa. (KDKA) -- A bill signed into law in Pennsylvania on Wednesday is designed to make roads safer by cutting down distracted driving with new regulations on what you can do with your cell phone and other hand-held devices.
The law means if you're behind the wheel of a car, your phone can't be in your hands. It's goal is to make you focus on the road.
After her son Paul died after being hit by a distracted driver, Eileen Miller has spent the last 12 years trying to prevent any other mother from going through her pain.
"Nobody should have to lose a child, a brother, a sister, a mother, or father because of a cell phone," Eileen Miller said.
This law bans any driver from using their devices for calls, texts or browsing. Devices are to be used in a hands-free manner.
"They almost have like the iPad on the dashboard. It's safer, you can talk on your phone that way, plus if you are distracted, just wait until you get to where you need to get," Seneca Weatherspoon of Brownsville, Fayette County said.
Drivers in western Pennsylvania say they routinely find people on their phones while driving down the road.
"I see people almost hitting people, especially some people that are driving in bike lanes," Weatherspoon said.
They feel this is a step in the right direction to make driving safer for everyone.
"I'm all for it. There's enough crazy people on the road as it is not paying attention. I don't think they need more distractions," Emory Elliot of Canonsburg, Washington County said.
There are some exceptions for emergency crews, but the state now joins more than two dozen other states with similar laws. Drivers who violate this will get a $50 summary offense.
"We are on the way to make Pennsylvania roadways much, much safer," bill sponsor Sen. Rosemary Brown said.
There is language in the bill to have police track the data of who they pull over for distracted driving. It's designed to prevent police from targeting historically marginalized communities.
