5.6.25 – Baton Rouge, La. (KALB)
House lawmakers at Louisiana’s State Capitol successfully advanced a bill aiming to reduce distracted driving by imposing tighter restrictions on cell phone usage in a vehicle.
The Louisiana Highway Commission outlines distracted driving as a “major contributing factor in many fatal crashes,” citing that out of 811 driving fatalities in 2023, 22% (178 people) were caused due to distracted driving. Nationwide, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration states that 3,275 people died in 2023 due to distracted driving.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration defines distracted driving as “any activity that diverts attention from driving, including talking or texting on your phone, eating and drinking, talking to people in your vehicle, fiddling with the stereo, entertainment or navigation system.”
“Texting is the most alarming distraction.”National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Distracted Driving
Under Louisiana law RS 32:300.5, “no person shall operate any motor vehicle upon any public road or highway of this state [Louisiana] while using a wireless telecommunications device” to text or engage with social media sites; however, the law makes clear exceptions towards the use of cell phones for phone calls.
HB519 by Louisiana State Representative Brian Glorioso expands the state’s laws to ban drivers from having cellular devices in their hands while operating a vehicle. Additionally, drivers cannot make phone calls unless they use a ‘hands-free’ method or intend to report an incident and/or emergency.
“Phones are called smart phones for a reason… because they’re smart. So even if you don’t have Bluetooth in your car, you can tell Siri to dial somebody’s number and you can tell Siri to give you directions.”State Representative Jason Hughes, (D) District 100
State Representative Michael Bayham rose in opposition to the bill during floor debate on May 6, declaring he would not support the proposed law.
“This is something that other states do and I understand, but look, this is about revenue harvesting plain and simple,” said Bayham. “This is about a new reason to pull people over and issue tickets.”
“Let’s be honest there are some communities in this state, we call them speed trap communities, that run their cities off of traffic tickets, and this will become a source of revenue for these tickets.”State Representative Michael Robert “Mike” Bayham, Jr. (R) District 103
Representative Glorioso responded to Bayham’s arguments during his closing remarks, stating, “Our insurance costs on auto in Louisiana have risen to 16% in that time because of distracted driving. It’s about safety, it’s not about anything else; that’s why I’ve written the bill the way I have.”
The proposed bill passed the House Chambers with a vote of 71 yeas, and 28 nays; a near reversal from 2024. The bill is now headed to the Senate for further debate.