LANSING, Mich. — Attention drivers! Michigan's new distracted driving law goes into effect on Friday.
The law prohibits people from using and even holding a mobile electronic device while behind the wheel.
Holding your phone in your hand, to your ear or placing it anywhere on your arms or shoulders is no longer allowed. Now, you must use hands-free features while driving like voice assistants similar to Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa and Google's Google.
According to the Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 3,522 people died in 2021 due to distracted driving.
Local law enforcement said this new law is crucial to our state's roadways.
"Distracted driving is one of the leading causes for all traffic accidents within the state and the country, so anything we can do to reduce the amount of distracted driving and take that device out of their hands to use their eyes to look at the roadway and not be distracted by anything else, hopefully that eliminates some crashes," said Captain Scott VanderEnde with the Operations Division at Kalamazoo Department Public of Safety.
Previously, drivers were not legally allowed to text but could still use their device to scroll on social media.
With the new changes, the phone can't be in the operators hand at all, even when parked or at a stop light.
The following tasks prohibited include but are not limited to:
- Send or receive a telephone call
- Send, receive or read a text message
- View, record or transmit a video
- Access, read or post to a social networking site
There are a few exceptions to the rules.
- Law enforcement, first responders and other emergency workers would not be prohibited from using a cell phone while performing official duties.
- The same exception goes for anyone calling or texting 911 to report an emergency or seek help.
- Drivers will still be allowed to use their GPS, but only if it's hands-free. Phones could be used as navigation systems so long as it is in a hands-free fashion, such as mounting it to the dashboard or using voice commands to control it.
- Generally, using voice commands or hands-free modes to use mobile electronic devices is allowed.
"A lot of people use their cellphone for GPS. If you’re going to use your phone for navigation, you can use it in the hands-free mode or have it mounted to the dash and use it that way like an app or a map function. That his still allowed. It just cannot be in your hand when you’re using it to navigate," said Capt. VanderEnde.
Potential Fines
- First Offense: $100 fine and/or 16 hours of community service
- Second Offense: $250 fine and/or 24 hours of community service
- Third Offense: Will be ordered by the court to complete a driver improvement course
- Penalties increase for additional/subsequent violations
To clarify, if you are using your car's hands-free feature for your mobile device or placing your phone in a mount, "one touch" is allowed. This means as long as it's one movement, you can answer a phone call, click a button and even start or end navigation, similar to changing the volume on your radio or turning on your air/heat features.
The distracted driving law is a primary offense, meaning an officer who sees someone with their phone in their hand, on their arms or shoulders can be pulled over and ticketed.
For more information on this new distracted driving law, click here.
