With the exception of Missouri (which only bars under-21s) and Montana, every state in the U.S. outlaws use of a hand-held cellphone to send text messages while driving. Many also forbid drivers from physically holding a phone while making a call on the move.
But Michigan is about to join the growing number of states that don’t allow car users to hold a cellphone for any purpose when they’re driving. The state senate has passed a package of three bills that would forbid drivers from talking on the phone, sending and receiving texts, recording or watching videos, reading and posting content to social media platforms.
Drivers would still be allowed to use a phone when calling emergency services, and drivers working for those emergency services as well as public utility employees would be exempt from the rules. But everyone else gorging on TikTok content on the freeway in Michigan will soon have watched their final legal video.
The bills passed by the senate must now return to the state house, and if as expected they get the green light there, they’ll be sent to the Governor to be signed into law. The move comes as part of a push to reduce distracted driving, which the NHTSA says resulted in 3,500 deaths in the U.S. in 2021. Michigan recorded over 16,500 distracted driving accidents in 2021, up from 14,326 the previous year.
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That same concern over distracted driving accidents in their own state is leading Alabama lawmakers to consider implementing similar rules. The house and senate are both considering different bills – they agree that being found guilty should lead to a driver’s license being endorsed with penalty points, but there’s disagreement over what kind of fines should be levied and whether those guilty of phone use should be hit with community service orders.
We’re probably all guilty of having used our phones when we shouldn’t have, but annoying as bans like this can sometimes feel, it’s hard to argue with the reasoning behind them. What do you think, though? Should we be able to use our cellphones on the move? And why is it okay to stare into a TV screen in the center of your dashboard scrolling through endless menus that studies have proven are draining our concentration, but not OK to hold a phone? Let us know your thoughts on that legal and moral mess.