In Rhode Island, new cell phone laws for distracted driving will be in effect June 1, 2018 due to the high rate of fatalities and accidents connected to cell phone use. This new law includes talking on the phone and driving, unless emergency personnel is needed.
In Rhode Island, new cell phone laws for distracted driving will be in effect June 1, 2018 due to the high rate of fatalities and accidents connected to cell phone use. This new law includes talking on the phone and driving, unless emergency personnel is needed.
In 2017, traffic fatalities were up 63% and it is the highest it’s ever been since 2008. With fatalities rising dramatically, legislation had to do something about it.
The House of Representatives at the Rhode Island State House voted 57 to 7 passing the hands free ill.
“It’s long overdue and it’s actually going to give the tools to law enforcement to make our roads safer,” says Senator Susan Sosnowski, who has supported the bill since 2009.
The penalty for breaking this law will be a fine of $100. If the driver can prove that they were on a hands free device, the charges will be dismissed.
Police are trying different tactics to spread awareness on this subject, specifically trying to get young people’s attention.
According to Officer Paul Pacheco, “police officers enforce the laws in an attempt to gain compliance through enforcement. Other methods that police departments have attempted to use are helpful tips on social media, education through schools, and even radio commercials through funding by the DOT (Department of Transportation). Although traffic stops which result in citations are not our preferred approach, sadly studies do show that this approach is effective. It is important to remember that police officers are humans and by in large do not prefer to give tickets, so it is great that we have recently incorporated new methods such as the ones listed above to attempt to gain compliance.”
Some teens have a different perspective on the hands free law. Some are worried that they won’t be able to get in touch with their parents, other family members and etc.
Kailey Costello, an 18 year old licensed driver, says “it’s important not to go on your phone while driving because its a major distraction to the driver, but I feel like at times you need your phone to call your parents or your legal guardian.”
Another controversial topic that concerns people is what if your car doesn’t have features like bluetooth? The law states that you can’t hold your phone up to your ear and talk, but it does say that you can hook your phone up to bluetooth in the car and communicate that way.
Some say that this new law is unfair because some people don’t have enough money to buy newer cars that have this feature. Either way the driver can always pull of of the roadway into a safe parking spot to use their cell phone.
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