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SALT LAKE CITY — There were no changes to Utah’s distracted driver laws this year after a bill that would have forbidden hand-held cellphone use while driving stalled before the 2015 Legislature ended late Thursday.
HB63 would have tightened laws that only restrict dialing and manipulation of cellphones while driving by prohibiting drivers from holding phones up to their ears while talking.
If the bill had passed, drivers would have only been legally able to talk on their phones using Bluetooth, speakerphone or other hands-free features that could be activated with single-touch or voice command use.
The bill, sponsored by Reps. Jacob Anderegg, R-Lehi, and Sen. Steve Urquhart, R-St. George, passed the Senate on Wednesday with a 20-7 vote containing an amendment that would allow a driver to use push-to-talk features on handheld communication devices.
I personally am not ready to go down this road. I don't know where it ends.
–Sen. Deidre Henderson
Before the Senate’s vote to send it to the House for consideration, Urquhart said lawmakers needed to consider whether Utahns are “ready to go to hand-free use.”
During Wednesday’s debate, Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, raised the question whether lawmakers think changing the law would be in the best interests for everyone, with regards to both safety and personal liberty.
Sen. Deidre Henderson, R-Spanish Fork, spoke against the bill, saying she believes the existing law “is already way too far” and the bill would “take it even farther.”
“I personally am not ready to go down this road,” Henderson said. “I don’t know where it ends.”
But the bill stalled when it was circled on the House floor and was not addressed before the session ended at midnight.
