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SALT LAKE CITY — A bill to tighten Utah's distracted driving laws was favorably recommended in Senate committee Tuesday.
SB162 would allow only hands-free cellphone use while driving. The Senate Transportation and Public Utilities and Technology Committee approved the bill with a 3-1 vote.
“(Cellphones) really captivate our attention. They pull our minds away from the road, and horrific things happen,” said the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Steve Urquhart, R-St. George.
Santa Clara resident Leslee Henson began pushing for stricter distracted driving laws last year after a texting driver caused an accident that killed her husband on a St. George sidewalk. Henson enlisted Urquhart to sponsor last year’s bill to do so, which passed into law.
The 2014 legislation made it illegal for motorists from send, write or read text messages, instant message or email; dial a phone number; access the Internet; view or record a video; and type a data on a smartphone or other mobile device.
Urquhart said lawmakers should now continue on with last year’s current and “take the next step” to toughen laws against the “deadly” driving habit.
Sen. Karen Mayne, D-West Valley City, spoke in favor of SB162, speaking of the “hypnotic” effects hand-held devices that cause so many accidents and deaths.
“We can’t fix everything, but let’s fix the things we can,” Mayne said.
Urquhart’s bill is countering an attempt by Rep. Jacob Anderegg, R-Lehi, to instead slacken parts of last year’s distracting driving laws.
“What is currently on the books, I think, is just not practical,” Anderegg said on the House floor Tuesday after HB63 was circled for further debate.
Anderegg’s bill would allow drivers to make or receive calls, use a GPS device for navigational services or for listening to music while still prohibiting accessing the Internet; writing, sending or viewing texts, videos and email; and manually entering data into an electronic device.
“At the end of the day, I feel like we went too far,” Anderegg said. “We got in the way of how, I would argue, most of us — if not all of us — use our phones while driving every single day.” Email: kmckellar@deseretnews.com
