LANSING – New drivers with a level one or level graduated driver’s license would be barred from using mobile phones under a bill passed Thursday by the Senate.
SB 756 cleared the Senate on a 28-10 vote. It would make the use of a mobile phone by such drivers a civil infraction and is designed to ensure young drivers are focused on operating their vehicle. The offense would be a primary one.
Motorists with graduated licenses at levels one or two are under 17. Once a resident turns 17, he or she can obtain a level three license – with all the rights of an adult license – provided that the driver has met the necessary training requirements.
Sen. Howard Walker (R-Traverse City), the bill sponsor, said he took up the issue after one of his constituents told him about a traffic crash that killed her daughter, who was using a mobile phone at the time of the accident. Her family was on hand in the gallery for the vote.
“While we will never know if Kelsey would still be here today if she wasn’t talking on her phone that day, I think it is safe to say that probationary drivers should be completely focused on the road and not on cell phone conversations,” Walker said, referring to Kelsey Raffaele, a 17-year-old with a level two license when she was killed in a traffic crash while talking on her mobile phone. “That is what my bill will help to accomplish.”
But Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer (D-East Lansing) said she thought the bill should apply to all motorists.
“We have a duty to ensure people on the road are safe,” she said. “People are in car accidents every single day. We should do whatever we can to protect the public from all drivers who are distracted by any means.
This story was provided by Gongwer News Service. To subscribe, click on Gongwer.Com
a>>
