goingon
Indiana Handheld Phone Ban While Driving Wins Approval
Wednesday, March 11, 2020


It was announced on Tuesday that Indiana State legislators on had given their final approval to a proposal banning motorists from using handheld cellphones on Indiana roads to combat distracted driving.

The Indiana House voted 81-11 and the Senate 49-1 in favor of the bill allowing cellphone use by drivers only with hands-free or voice-operated technology, except in emergencies.

The measure would broaden the state’s current ban on texting while driving that officials point out is unenforceable and doesn’t ban actions such as emailing or using Snapchat, Twitter and other apps.

The new law would take effect in July, but any tickets issued to violators won’t result in state Bureau of Motor Vehicles points toward a driver’s license suspension until July 2021.

Distracted driving was to blame in at least 860 injury crashes and 48 fatalities in Indiana last year, according to state police. The proposal now goes to Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb, who has endorsed it. Twenty-one other states already have similar bans.



MORE HEADLINES

>> News Archive