Pennsylvania to ban mobile phone use whereas driving and require police to gather site visitors cease knowledge

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By Marc Levy
Related Press

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania will be part of the vast majority of states that ban motorists from dealing with a mobile phone for nearly any function whereas driving, as backers of the laws hope to cut back distracted driving accidents and deaths after practically twenty years of urgent the measure.

Gov. Josh Shapiro’s workplace mentioned Thursday that the Democrat will signal the invoice, 18 years after he first launched the same invoice when he served within the state Home of Representatives. The ban will take impact a 12 months after he indicators it, which is predicted within the coming days.

The invoice additionally features a provision long-sought by the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus as a bulwark towards racial profiling. That provision requires larger police departments, in addition to the Pennsylvania State Police, to gather and publicly report knowledge on site visitors stops, together with a driver’s race.

The invoice handed each chambers of the state Legislature this week and can deliver Pennsylvania into alignment with the regulation on motorists’ mobile phone use in all of its neighboring states. Presently, Pennsylvania’s restriction on mobile phone use whereas driving applies solely to texting.

Sen. Rosemary Brown, R-Monroe, had pushed for greater than a decade to toughen Pennsylvania’s restriction on mobile phone use whereas driving. Its passage is a “monumental victory” for Pennsylvania that can shield drivers, forestall crashes and save lives, Brown mentioned in a press release.

Beneath the invoice, police can ticket a driver who’s dealing with their cellphone for nearly any purpose. Drivers can nonetheless use their cellphone to make cellphone calls or for different features, comparable to listening to music, if they’re utilizing it hands-free with know-how comparable to a docking station, Bluetooth or audio system.

The ban applies to motorists sitting in site visitors or stopped at a site visitors mild, however doesn’t embrace a driver who has parked on the facet of the highway or one other place the place the automobile can stay stopped safely.

Different exceptions embrace for navigational use or alerting emergency responders. A primary offense is punishable by a $50 wonderful and offenders who trigger critical accidents might get extra time in jail.

Shapiro referred to as the invoice “frequent sense.”

“I’ve met too many households which have an empty seat on the dinner desk due to distracted driving. I’ve met too many individuals with accidents that they’re going to stay with for the remainder of their lives as a result of they had been hit by a distracted motorist,” Shapiro informed WILK-FM radio in Pittston throughout an interview final month.

Crashes the place a distracted driver was a contributing issue are down in Pennsylvania prior to now decade, as crashes total have declined, in response to state knowledge.

In some years, it was the second-leading explanation for accidents. In 2022, it was the third-leading trigger. That was behind velocity and improper turning, however forward of ingesting alcohol, careless passing and tailgating.

Twenty-eight states already ban mobile phone use whereas driving, in accordance data from the Nationwide Convention of State Legislatures.

In the meantime, at the very least 23 states have legal guidelines on gathering knowledge on site visitors stops, the group mentioned.

Rep. Napoleon Nelson, D-Montgomery, the chair of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus, mentioned caucus members had been involved that police might abuse a broad new energy to drag over motorists and goal racial minorities.

Amassing site visitors cease knowledge is necessary for accountability, Nelson mentioned.

“I feel this shall be a major win for transparency and assist to proceed constructing belief between group members and people who are sworn to serve and shield,” Nelson mentioned in an interview.

Rep. Donna Bullock, D-Philadelphia, who labored for a number of years to get the availability into regulation, referred to as it a “huge step for Pennsylvania.” The Pennsylvania State Police just lately started voluntarily gathering and reporting site visitors cease knowledge and a few municipal police departments do as effectively, Bullock mentioned.

However the strategies of particular person departments aren’t uniform, like they are going to be underneath the brand new regulation, Bullock mentioned.

Information launched final 12 months by the state police and analyzed by the Nationwide Policing Institute confirmed no disparities between racial and ethnic teams for warnings, citations or arrests. However troopers had been greater than twice extra more likely to search Black and Hispanic drivers than white drivers, the report confirmed.

Beneath the forthcoming regulation, knowledge that police should report contains the rationale for the cease, particulars from a search of the automobile and the race, ethnicity, age and gender of the driving force who was stopped. Police forces that serve municipalities underneath 5,000 individuals are exempt from the requirement.

The info assortment requirement takes impact in a 12 months and a half. After the mobile phone ban takes impact, drivers get a grace interval of one other 12 months through which they solely obtain a written warning for violating it.

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