INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) – Lawmakers at the Statehouse are seeking to take your telephone out of your arms while you’re using.
A bill introduced in January by Rep. Jim Pressel (R-Rolling Prairie) pushes Indiana into becoming a “fingers-free” kingdom for motorists. The bill might remove any gray regions surrounding the modern “no texting and using” regulation, which leaves room for drivers to partake in any quantity of online activities while in the back of the wheel.
“People take that phrase, ‘texting,’ actually,” Jennifer Smith, CEO of Stopdistractions.Org, informed WNDU-TV. “And so you’ll see human beings saying, ‘Oh, properly, I wasn’t texting.’ But they’re on Instagram the whole time they drive. Or they’re FaceTiming each different. They’re watching Netflix and YouTube, playing video games.”
None of those activities are presently unlawful, that’s why several states are moving to get phones out of drivers’ fingers altogether. Police then have a clearer interpretation of the law and “can begin imposing it with consequences,” Smith said.
Georgia handed an arms-unfastened regulation last year and police wrote 900 citations in the first month. Since then, but, they’ve noticed a downward fashion.
Being caught using a cellphone even as using would have essentially the identical consequence as a Class C infraction, WNDU mentioned, much like a DUI. If a crash involving a driving force the use of a mobile phone or other digital tool prompted a death, the penalty might be 1-12 years in jail, a similar punishment to manslaughter.