Holding a phone while driving is now illegal
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| Distracted driving causes accidents. [Vancouver Courier] |
As of Jan. 1, it’s illegal to hold a cellphone while driving in Virginia.
The penalty is a $125 fine for a first offense or using a phone in a highway work zone and $250 for additional offenses. If using headphones for talking on a phone hands-free, you can only have an earbud in one ear.
According to a report by NBC12, Virginia State Police are going to aggressively enforce this law. Similar bans are already in effect in D.C. and Maryland.
Previously, Virginia banned holding a phone while driving in a work zone and reading or typing an email or text while driving.
Exceptions to the cell phone ban include using a phone to report an emergency and using a phone while legally parked or stopped.
According to Drive Smart Virginia, banning handheld phones while driving is important because:
- Eighty percent of all crashes and 65 percent of all near-crashes involve driver inattention within three seconds of the crash.
- Texting while driving increases the crash risk by 2,300 percent, because it involves all three kinds of distraction – manual, visual, and cognitive.
- Fifteen percent of all fatal crashes were distraction-related in 2018 in Virginia. This number is likely understated as distraction can be difficult to measure in the event of a fatality.
I wonder if "stopped" includes stopping at a red light
Amazing
Our retard legislators thinks its ok to let go for a violent offender, but will take 125$ from you if you hold your cell phone while driving.
Proud to live in such country,
Please explain how there is legislation allowing violent offenders to be let go scot free.
Your odd – not to mention insulting- language, as well as peculiar entry of a monetary amount, makes me think that you know very little about the country in which you claim to live, but do not respect.
In the old dominion. People have been locked up for lengthy period for non-violent crimes, even writing a bad check to buy groceries to feed children whose father is failing to pay required child support. A very few prisoners may have been allowed to leave prison due to the pandemic, but most with serious offenses are still incarcerated.