Alert Driver Training - Rock Hill SC
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • SCHEDULE
  • Contact
  • Reviews
  • Videos

Hold your cellphone while driving and talking? SC Senate votes to ban that dangerous habit

2/24/2022

0 Comments

 
 The South Carolina Senate passed a bill Wednesday that aims to ban drivers across the state from holding their phone — whether it be to answer a text or put on a new playlist — while driving their car. By a 37-3 Senate vote, the legislation heads to the House, where similar efforts have failed in the past. The move comes after the state recorded one of the most dangerous years for drivers in the last 15 years. In 2021, 1,118 people died in auto accidents on South Carolina’s highways. The bill, S. 248, is a lighter version of Georgia’s hands-free driving law. Drivers, under the legislation, would be prohibited from writing, sending or reading any texts or emails, changing to the next podcast or song, watching videos or using more than one button to answer a call. Georgia’s law, passed in 2018, prohibits drivers from touching their phones with any part of their body. “If Georgia can do this, South Carolina can do it too,” the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Tom Young, R-Aiken, said last week. The bill would make holding a phone or other mobile device while driving a distracted driving offense, punishable by a fine of $100. If a driver is caught again within three years, they could be fined $200 and two points would be recorded on their license. The driver’s license could be suspended for three or more months if 12 points are recorded against the license. Twenty-seven states and the District of Columbia have passed some sort of restriction on using cellphones while driving. There are some exceptions to the Senate’s legislation. Drivers would be allowed to touch their phone to begin or end calls or to turn it on or off. They also could use a GPS app and voice-to-text functions, earpieces, smart watches and a car’s built-in hands-free media system. Pulling to the side of the road and parking to use a cellphone would be allowed if the legislation became law. Drivers who report traffic accidents, fires, medical emergencies or crimes would be allowed to use their phones while driving. Law enforcement, first responders and utility services providers who are using their phones for work are exceptions in the legislation. Several state agencies and groups, including the Department of Transportation, support the measure. “As Secretary (Christy) Hall said, distracted driving is an epidemic in South Carolina, and she said this bill is a tool that would be used in our toolbox to address the distracted driving problem,” Young said last week. During the debate, some senators questioned whether the bill was necessary. Sen. Stephen Goldfinch, R-Georgetown, for instance, asked whether the bill would do anything to curb distracted driving, the bill’s stated purpose. And Sen. Gerald Malloy, D-Darlington, asked whether the guidelines set under the bill were clear enough for all South Carolina residents to understand, including whether drivers would know whether they could touch their phone while in the car’s cup holder. “Can we really tell our citizens what happens once it passes?” Malloy said.

This story was originally published February 23, 2022 4:08 PM.

Read more at:
https://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/article258464718.html#storylink=cpy
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Alert Driver Training in Rock Hill, SC is always here to help, whether it's to teach your teen, or refresh your own driving skills.  Call us!
    803-324-ALRT(2578)

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • SCHEDULE
  • Contact
  • Reviews
  • Videos