State Rep. John Carson, R-Marietta, says “it is absolutely essential” that a “hands-free” phone device bill “is addressed during the 2018 General Assembly session to prevent further distracted driving-related car crashes and fatalities.” He tells InsiderAdvantage that the distracted driving study committee he chairs found that “the 15 states with the hands-free laws saw, on average, fatalities go down 15 percent within two to three years.”
A poll commissioned by the House Study Committee on Distracted Driving, of which Carson is the chair, found that 66.4% of Georgia voters are in favor of a hands-free driving law, with another 20% undecided. The poll also found that such a bill would have bi-partisan support, as 72% of Republican voters and 64.5 percent of Democratic voters said they were in favor.
The House Study Committee on Distracted Driving was founded in the 2017 session via House Resolution 282, and over the course of the year has held a series of meetings to determine whether changes to state law could be used to reduce incidents of distracted driving. The committee will release its findings before the end of the month, but with strong support of a bill to implement hands-free driving from Carson, it doesn’t take a genius to realize which way the group is leaning.
Said Carson on the results of the poll, “I’m encouraged to see that the majority of Georgia voters are supportive of a hands-free driving law in our state. Last year alone, over 1,500 people died in automobile accidents on Georgia roads, and according to a recent poll, over 82 percent of Georgia voters believe that texting while driving is a major contributing factor to the increased number of auto accidents. Distracted diving is an extremely serious public safety concern, and it is absolutely essential that this issue is addressed in the 2018 General Assembly session to prevent further distracted driving-related car crashes and fatalities.”
Expect to see “hands-free” legislation hit the House floor soon after the 2018 legislative session begins on January 8th.
