Michigan lawmakers weighing ban on handheld cellphone use while driving
Lansing — State lawmakers on Tuesday heard from three individuals whose loved ones were killed by distracted driving as the Legislature makes its latest push to ban handheld cellphone use while driving.
Advocates pushed for passage of the bill by Memorial Day in time for the summer months, when traffic deaths typically increase. The legislation has not yet been voted out of a House committee.
"We can save lives this summer and all of you can certainly be part of it," said Steve Kiefer, father of 18-year-old Mitchel Kiefer, who was killed in 2016 by a distracted driver while driving along Interstate 96 toward Michigan State University.
Steve Kiefer, a retired General Motors executive, started the Kiefer Foundation to advocate for an end to distracted driving and has been pushing for legislation banning cellphone use while driving for the past several years.
"We’ve been at this now through three sessions," Steve Kiefer said. "This is not about Mitchel anymore. It’s about your children.”
The House Transportation, Mobility and Infrastructure Committee took testimony for nearly an hour Tuesday and is expected to hold a second hearing to vote to refer the bills to the House floor later this month. The bills have failed to advance under a Republican-led Legislature, but sponsors are hoping they'll have better luck under the new Democratic majorities in the House and Senate.
The bills, introduced by Plymouth Democratic state Rep. Matt Koleszar, Linden Republican Rep. Mike Mueller and Detroit Democratic Rep. Tyrone Carter, would prohibit an individual from holding or using an electronic mobile device while operating a motor vehicle and amend the distracted driving section of Michigan's current vehicle code. The legislation would not apply to hands-free blue tooth devices.
The bill sponsors want to make Michigan the 26th state in the nation to adopt a hands-free law.
Other parts of the legislation address penalties to be assessed for breaking the law and another requiring a 42-month study to ensure the law isn't used to disproportionately target certain races.
The Michigan Department of Civil Rights on Tuesday testified in opposition to the bills as written because they didn't provide for officer training to prevent the use of the law as a pretense for racial profiling in traffic stops.
"The bill does allude to officers not using these stops to search vehicles, to look at other activity that might be going on, but it doesn’t provide for explicit training and we think that that is something that would strengthen this policy," said Dr. Jerome Reide, legislative liaison for the Michigan Department of Civil Rights.
James Freybler testified to lawmakers about the loss of his son, Jacob, who was texting while on his way to his father's home in 2013, crossed the center line and died in an impact with an SUV. His son's last text, James Freybler said, was "I'm not feeling well."
He urged lawmakers to take action, arguing the policy was needed "yesterday." Each year, he said, it seems as if a new parent is coming to testify on the bill.
"Get the cell phones out of people’s hand. Get this done, for me, for my family," Freybler said. "Who else do we need to sit here?"
Data shows that fatal crashes involving distracted drivers are on the rise nationally. Nearly 6% of vehicle crashes in Michigan in 2021 involved distracted drivers, according to Michigan State Police.
Distracted drivers in Michigan are also more likely to be young people under the age of 21. While 6.7% of Michigan's drivers are under the age of 21, 18% of the state's distracted driving crashes involved drivers under this age.
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