Distracted driving, other laws take effect Sunday

ATLANTA — Several new laws went into effect in Georgia on Sunday, which marks the beginning of a new fiscal year for the state budget.

Among them is a highly publicized measure that will make it illegal to hold or operate a cell phone by hand while driving.

But dozens of other bills and resolutions passed by the state legislature during the 2018 session will also take effect.

The state’s medical marijuana program will be expanded to cover patients with post-traumatic stress disorder as well as intractable pain.

A law that prohibits credit reporting agencies from charging for a security freeze and another that allows local officials to limit the use of fireworks through noise ordinances are also set to go into effect Sunday.

One that local drivers should pay attention to is Georgia’s effort to join more than a dozen other states in banning hands-on cell phone use while driving.

Robert Hydrick is a spokesman for the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. He says that under the “Hands-Free Georgia Act,” drivers will not be allowed to hold a phone with their hands or use any other part of their body to support the device.

Drivers may touch their cell phones to answer and end phone calls, but anything more than that violates the law.

Violators will face fines of up to $150 and as many as three points on their license.

Exceptions include reporting a crash or other emergency. Utility workers and first responders are also exempt from this law.

House Bill 673, authored by Rep. John Carson, R- northeast Cobb, seeks to curb distracted driving by prohibiting the use of cell phones without a hands-free device. Rep. Eddie Lumsden, R-Armuchee, co-sponsored the bill and worked to promote its passage.

Drivers can still talk on the phone and use their navigation programs, but their phones will need to be mounted to the windshield or dashboard, not in their hands. ‘

Texting and watching or recording videos would be illegal and all phone calls would need to be made with the use of a speaker or headset.