{"id":4344,"date":"2023-06-22T14:36:13","date_gmt":"2023-06-22T14:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/?p=4344"},"modified":"2023-06-22T14:37:30","modified_gmt":"2023-06-22T14:37:30","slug":"put-the-phone-down-new-bill-makes-it-illegal-to-have-phone-in-hand-while-driving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/2023\/06\/22\/put-the-phone-down-new-bill-makes-it-illegal-to-have-phone-in-hand-while-driving\/","title":{"rendered":"Put the phone down: New bill makes it punishable to have phone in hand while driving"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

TROY, Ala. (TROJANVISION<\/a>) \u2014 Recently, Gov. Kay Ivey signed new distracted driving legislation into law, which makes it easier for officers to crack down on distracted driving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to Senate Bill 301, using a phone for anything other than answering a call or using it as a GPS is a finable offense. SB301 expands a pre-existing law that makes it illegal to text and drive and for anyone under 18 years old to use the phone while driving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Texting and driving was prohibited in the state of Alabama,” said Troy University Police Department<\/a> (TUPD) Officer Rachel Farmer. “This is aiming to exclude having the phone in your hand for any other purpose. A lot of the arguments with the texting was I wasn’t texting I was entering a phone number. I wasn’t texting I was picking up a phone call.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Having a phone in your hands while driving is now a finable offense under a new Alabama law<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The new bill also deems it illegal to physically hold a phone, write, send, or read text messages, watch or record a video while driving, and reach for any electronic device that forces the driver to lift up from their seat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“After June of 2024 fines will be added,” Farmer explained. “It’s a $50 fine to start with. Then it goes on to 100, 150 [dollars] and points will also be taken off your driver’s license.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are some important caveats to the bill. For example, drivers can still use Bluetooth and use a single swipe to answer a phone call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“No hands-on devices at all,” Farmer told TrojanVision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being caught using your phone while driving is a secondary violation, which means police can’t stop someone for being on the phone. However, they can stop someone for a traffic violation and charge the driver for using a phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This, of course, excludes texting because texting is a primary offense,” Farmer said. “I don’t have to have another reason if I see you continuously on the phone.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the new law already in effect, law enforcement agencies, including TUPD, can enforce it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We want our students and drivers to be the safest that they can,” Farmer said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To read SB301 in its entirety, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TROY, Ala. (TROJANVISION) \u2014 Recently, Gov. Kay Ivey signed new distracted driving legislation into law, which makes it easier for officers to crack down on distracted driving.<\/p>\n

Thanks to Senate Bill 301, using a phone for anything other than answering a call or using it as a GPS is a finable offense. SB301 expands a…<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":4346,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[1090],"topics":[17],"class_list":["post-4344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-tupd","topics-troy-campus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4344\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4344"},{"taxonomy":"topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topics?post=4344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}