Legislators advance driver cellphone ban
Proposed legislation to ban almost all uses of hand-held cellphones by drivers in Massachusetts — except in emergencies — is advancing on Beacon Hill.
The bill, unanimously supported by the state Legislature’s Joint Committee on Transportation in May, won preliminary House approval without debate on Wednesday and was ordered to a third reading, the final step before being put to a vote.
The bill would prohibit motorists from using cellphones for non-emergency calls while driving — unless the device was used hands-free or to “activate, deactivate or initiate a feature or function.” Using a cellphone to access social media and camera functions including video calls also would be banned.
Allowed emergency uses of a hand-held cellphone while driving would include calling to report a disabled vehicle or an accident, or to ask for medical attention, police, fire or other emergency services.
Texting while driving has been illegal in Massachusetts since state legislation passed in 2010. Connecticut, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont, meanwhile, prohibit hand-held cellphone use by motorists.
Similar hands-free bills passed the Massachusetts Senate during the last legislative session and advanced through the House, which did not take a final vote. But Rep. Denise Provost (D-Somerville), who’s filed bills banning hand-held phone use that weren’t enacted, said the public is eager for legislation now, and she’s optimistic it will pass.
“If you look at pedestrian mortality, bicycle accidents, even just property damage, the amount of loss and harm that’s attributable to distracted driving has been growing after a time when road safety had been improving,” Provost said.
“Enough people have been affected adversely by it at this point, that a lot of people are modifying their own behavior, and they want to make sure other people on the road do, too.”
The current bill recognizes cellphones are being used for activities beyond calls that take users’ minds and vision off the road, state Rep. William Straus (D-Mattapoisett) said. “One of the things about advancing technology ... and the different kinds of apps that are on people’s phones, is that it’s a challenge to draft legislation that tries to anticipate different ways the phones get used,” Straus said. “It’s a more complicated issue than it might have been a decade ago.”