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Miller calls for law to restrict cell phone use in vehicles
Dialing and driving can be more than a distraction. It can be disastrous.
State Sen. Pete Miller (R-Avon) knows that all too well, and he hopes to draw upon his own personal experience to make Indiana streets and highways a little safer for Hoosiers.
A Greencastle man recently suggested the need for a change in the rules governing use of a cellphone while driving in Indiana, Sen. Miller told about 25 people attending the first monthly session of the Putnam County Farm Bureau Legislative update programs Saturday.
"That exact week," the
District 24 state senator offered, "I totaled my car by just trying to dial a number on my cellphone."
On Dec. 2, Miller was trying to call his children's orthodontist as he drove along Rockville Road (U.S. 36) that frosty morning en route to work from his Avon home. Thus he distractedly didn't have both hands on the wheel.
The pavement had glazed over and Miller's car suddenly spun on the ice, veering off at a 45-degee angle and hitting an overpass.
"It could have been worse," he assured Saturday.
The accident proved not only to be a wake-up call for Miller but a catalyst for a new bill.
His subsequent proposal, filed as Senate Bill 204 in the current session of the Indiana
General Assembly, requires a driver to use hands-free or voice-operated technology to answer or make a telephone call while operating a moving motor vehicle (unless it is used to call 911 to report a legitimate emergency).
Indiana law already bans adults from texting and emailing while driving. Drivers age 16 and 17 are prohibited from using the phone in any capacity while behind the wheel.
"We know it makes a difference," Miller said, "but for some reason we only apply it to new drivers when obviously there's an impact on adults as well."
The law needs to be specific to the options currently available on phones and other mobile device, Miller suggested.
If you're behind the wheel, you should be focused on that road, reasoned Miller, who serves the northern portion of Putnam County while District 37 State Sen. Rodric Bray represents much of Greencastle and the townships to the south.
"We shouldn't be allowed to surf the web while we drive or use an app," Miller added.
"I've been taking some heat," the senator said, noting that one common remark is, "'so you're a bad driver, and now you want all the rest of us to suffer.'"
Nonetheless, Miller is realistic about where his proposal may be headed.
"I don't think the bill is going to get a hearing," the senator said, "but it gives me a platform like this to talk about it and how dangerous it is.
"It's not like we pass bills for the heck of it, it's to make lives better for Hoosiers," Miller added.
The bill has garnered some interest regardless of how it may fare in the General Assembly.
"It's probably the bill I've given the least attention to," Miller told the Banner Graphic, "but it's the one I've gotten the most publicity about."
Statistics show one in four crashes on U.S. roadways involve someone using a cellphone, the National Safety Council notes. Meanwhile, 14 states currently ban drivers from using hand-held cellphones while operating a motor vehicle.
Other scheduled dates in the local Legislative Update series are Saturdays, Feb. 21 and March 21.