Pennsylvania poised to become the next state to ban using a handheld device while driving

Pennsylvania is on its way to becoming the next state to ban the use of handheld cellphones while driving.

The House of Representatives on Tuesday voted 124-77 to approve an amended version of a Senate-passed bill championed by Sen. Rosemary Brown, R-Monroe County, that would make it illegal for a driver to use handheld electronic devices while operating a vehicle in an effort to combat distracted driving.

If enacted, Pennsylvania would join its neighboring states in permitting a law enforcement officer to cite a driver for using a handheld device without any other traffic offense taking place.

“We must take a stronger action against distracted driving,” said House Transportation Committee Chairman Ed Neilson, D-Philadelphia. “Drivers need to put down the phone and keep their eyes on the road.”

The measure now goes back to the Senate for concurrence on the House changes. Gov. Josh Shapiro’s spokesman Manuel Bonder said the governor broadly supports the bill.

This ban on interactive mobile devices expands on the state’s texting while driving ban enacted in 2012. It would:

• Prohibit a driver from being charged with both using a handheld device and texting while driving if they are stopped at the same time and place.
• Bar law enforcement from seizing an electronic device unless otherwise provided for in the law.
• Define using an interactive mobile device as holding it with at least one hand or supporting it with a part of the body, dialing or answering it by pressing more than one button, or requiring a driver to reach for it so they are no longer in a seated position or removed their seat belt.
• Not apply to use of a device used only for navigation or if a driver is pulled off the road in a stopped position.

It makes an exception to allow a handheld device to be used while driving to notify first responders in emergencies.

The bill provides for a $50 fine for using an interactive mobile device while driving. However, for the first 12 months the law is in place, only a written warning would be issued.

It also requires minors to submit a certification form signed by a parent or guardian indicating they viewed information on PennDOT’s website on the dangers of distracted driving and require PennDOT to include at least one question related to distracted driving on the driving test.

Republican lawmakers argued careless driving and other laws already in place cover this proposed offense.

Rep. Doyle Heffley, R-Carbon County, said it creates a greater hardship on drivers of older vehicles that don’t have the technology to allow for hands-free use of an electronic device. However, he said he could support it if an amendment that the House rejected on Monday were included to make it a secondary offense, which would allow a driver to be cited for using a cell phone while driving only if they were stopped for another offense.

Brown’s legislation was inspired by a request from Eileen and Paul Miller whose 21-year-old son Paul Miller Jr. was killed in a crash near East Stroudsburg in 2010 by a distracted tractor-trailer driver. It is his memory that this bill is named. Eileen Miller was on hand in the House chamber to witness the House’s passage of the bill.

In a letter to lawmakers, Miller stated, “Nothing is a magic bullet, but we must do something to get the phone out of the drivers hand while behind the wheel and make them more responsible! It will strengthen, and make our roadways safer!”

Neilson said distracted driving has become more of a highway safety issue than drunk driving. He said in 2022, there were 11,400 crashes involving distracted drivers in Pennsylvania and 7,700 crashes involving drunk drivers.

The transportation committee amended the Senate-passed version of the bill to lower the fine from $100. It also added language to require the state police and local police in communities with more than 5,000 people to collect bias-profiling data during traffic stops.

If the bill is approved by the General Assembly and signed into law, Pennsylvania would join a majority of states in banning the use of handheld devices while driving, according to the Governor’s Highway Safety Association.