Ohio enacts stronger distracted driving law

SANDUSKY — If you're caught holding your phone or eating when police pull you over for a traffic violation, prepare for a heftier fine.That's after a newly enacted Ohio law — House Bill 95 — went into effect Oct. 29. The law calls for up to a $100 fine, in addition to the normal fine for a traffic violation if police can prove a motorist drove while distracted.It used to be that Ohio law enforcement had to prove a driver was texting, but the bar for being "distracted" is much lower after the bill's approval. Now, law enforcement only needs to prove a driver:• Used a handheld wireless communication device, like a cell phone, or• Engaged in an activity not necessary to the vehicle's operation that impairs their ability to drive safelyThe law was approved in the Ohio House in 2017 and was approved by the Ohio Senate in June 2018. "Our legislative goal is to encourage Ohio drivers to be cautious when driving and to think of their safety before anything else," the bill's co-sponsor, Representative Jim Hughes, R-Upper Arlington, said in a press release. "No text message or phone call is worth losing your life or harming someone else."The new law means police, from the smallest town to the biggest city, have to change how they handle distracted drivers. "It's the state's way of reaffirming the importance of distracted driving," Erie County Deputy Matthew Heery said.Heery, who works on road patrol at the sheriff's office, said he frequently encounters and pulls over drivers who were distracted. He said he has not yet had to issue one of the new distracted driving fines.Heery said distracted vehicles driven by distracted motorists often appear the same as an intoxicated driver, who often commit violations like driving left of the center line or over the fog line."They're minor traffic violations, but minor things are what's going to get you into a car accident," Heery said.Heery emphasized that driving a vehicle needs to encapsulate "100 percent" of a driver's attention."If it's that important to have to take that text message or phone call, pull over," he said.Drivers penalized for distracted driving don't necessarily have to pay the added fine.The Ohio Department of Public Safety created an online distracted driving safety course, and if a motorist completes the course and gives a court-proof they finished it, they don't have to pay the fine. That course is at drivertraining.ohio.gov.Reach reporter Brandon Addeo at brandonaddeo@sanduskyregister.com, follow him on Twitter @BrandonAddeo and follow the Register at Facebook.com/SanduskyRegisterA newly enacted Ohio law went into effect October 29 and calls for up to a $100 fine, in addition to whatever the fine for a traffic violation is, if police can prove a motorist drove while distracted.