New law will hopefully curb distracted driving

ZANESVILLE - Local law enforcement is hoping a new law will curb distracted driving. 
House Bill 95 took effect last week and is expected to punish distracted drivers with increased fines.

Lt. Matt Boyd with the Ohio State Highway Patrol's Zanesville Patrol Post said the new law allows for enhanced penalties for moving violations. If a law enforcement officer pulls over someone for running a stop sign, they cannot only issue the driver a moving violation for running the stop sign, but also issue a distracted driving citation as a secondary violation if they can prove the moving violation was due to distracted driving.

"We're hoping it will curb some of the issues of people being distracted while driving," Boyd said. "Maybe these additional fines will add some incentive for people to pay attention and realize the dangers of distracted driving."

Under the bill, drivers could be fined up to $100 in addition to any other fines accrued if they plead guilty to a moving violation caused by distracted driving. In lieu of paying the additional distracted driving fine, motorists can take an online course on distracted driving by visiting drivertraining.ohio.gov.

Under the new law, authorities will no longer need evidence that a motorist was sending or receiving text messages to cite them for distracted driving.

Cell phone use, while the most notable, is not specifically the only form of distracted driving under the new law. 

"There's different types of distractions. There's visual, taking your eyes off the road, there's manual, taking your hands off the wheel, and there's cognitive, taking your mind off the task of driving," Boyd said. "Distracted driving is defined as engaging in any activity not necessary in operating vehicle. Putting on makeup, reading, anything that takes your mind off the primary focus of driving."

Officers are not looking to use the new law as a means to pull over more drivers, Boyd said, but if distracted driving causes a driver to drift lanes, run a stoplight or cause an accident, those situations would call for the enhanced penalty.

"This lets us have a little more teeth on the enforcement end," Boyd said.

The bill, introduced in February 2017, was passed by the Ohio House of Representatives in June 2017, and by the Ohio Senate in June 2018. It was sponsored by Representatives Jim Hughes, R-Columbus, and William Seitz, R-Cincinnati.

ndharris@gannett.com

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Twitter: @nwithan8