Ohio Hands-Free Bill a Model

A bill pending in the Ohio Legislature that would ban the use of cell phones and other devices while driving could become a model for the nation, according to Chad Wilson, associate vice president of government relations for Nationwide Insurance.

S.B. 285, which is in the Legislature’s Local Government, Public Safety and Veterans Affairs Committee, would, with a few exceptions, make driving while handling any electronic wireless device a primary offense.

Currently, using a hand-held electronic wireless communications device to write, send or read a text-based communication while driving is a secondary offense for adult drivers in Ohio. Law enforcement officers cannot make a traffic stop unless the driver also commits a primary traffic offense, such as running a red light.

This new prohibition would include writing, sending or reading text-based communications, watching or recording videos, taking photos or looking at images, livestreaming, using apps, entering information into GPS navigation programs, dialing phone numbers or holding a device during a phone call.

“On Feb. 11, our CEO, Kirt Walker, issued a press release saying we would like a hands-free bill passed in all 50 states,” Wilson told a seminar on distracted driving hosted in October by The Risk Institute at The Ohio State University. He said work was progressing on a model bill for the country, based on Ohio S.B. 285, to be presented in December at the National Council of Insurance Legislators.

“It should be voted on in December, and, upon fair passage, provide the framework for the remaining 25 states [that do not have bans on use of devices while driving], so that when you drive from Ohio to Indiana, and onwards, or Ohio to West Virginia and into Pennsylvania and New England, you cannot hold your phone and drive,” Wilson said. “It’s that simple.”