Last December state Rep. John Carson, R-Marietta, told InsiderAdvantage “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 also said at the time that the distracted driving study committee he chaired found that “the 15 states with the hands-free laws saw, on average, fatalities go down 15 percent within two to three years.”
Initially, it wasn’t a priority with the Republican leadership as the session began. But that soon changed.
The Hands-Free Georgia Act that he authored was debated, amended, passed and signed into law. It went into effect last Sunday and prohibits drivers from handling their phones or other electronic devices while behind the wheel, with very few exceptions.
The Georgia State Patrol, basically responsible for patrolling Peach State interstates, is still working on compiling numbers for this week. But on the first day troopers issued 34 citations and 98 written warnings. Many counties and cities are already aggressively issuing warnings and writing citations.
Carson has said over the past year that he wants to “change the culture” regarding the problem of distracted driving. There seems to be initial success.
Yesterday, the Marietta lawmaker told InsiderAdvantage: “According to law enforcement, the hands-free law has overall been well-received. In addition, traffic fatalities are already down 10 percent through June 30, 2018 over the prior year-to-date period in 2017. I think this is due to public awareness that the law was coming.”
