Hands-Free Driving Bill Advances in Minnesota Legislation
A recent house panel vote advanced legislation that would make it against the law to hold a cell phone while driving in the state of Minnesota. The vote came after four years of unsuccessful attempts with similar bills.
If passed, Minnesota would become the 17th state (with the District of Columbia), to enact this measure. Currently Minnesota law allows drivers to hold a phone in their hands while driving, if they are speaking on the phone.
Closing Loopholes
Texting and driving is illegal in the state. but the general nature of the law makes it difficult to enforce. It's a difficulty for officers to determine exactly whether a driver was texting, or browsing the web. According to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, distracted driving is responsible for one in four crashes on in Minnesota. in 2017, 7,357 drivers in Minnesota were cited for texting a driving, a 23% increase from the previous year.
“Distracted driving is the fastest-growing problem on the highways. We have to get a handle on it,” said Rep. Frank Hornstein, DFL-Minneapolis, a lead author on the bill. “We crossed a big hurdle today.”
