Distracted driving/hands-free driving bill to be major emphasis for 2023 legislative session

Distracted driving, texting while driving, and electronic device use while driving leads to hundreds of fatalities and serious injuries in Missouri every year.  Missouri is now one of just TWO states that still allows texting while driving. 

Texting while driving is one of the leading cause of traffic injuries and deaths in Missouri. Missouri is one of only two states that still permits texting while driving.

Passing distracted driving legislation in Missouri has long been a priority of MoBikeFed members.  We have been working to support state legislation on distracted driving, texting while driving, and hands-free electronic device use for nearly two decades now.

In 2009, Missouri passed a law prohibiting texting while driving for drivers age 21 and younger. However, attempts to amend the law to include drivers of all ages, and more recent attempts to require use of hands-free devices while operating motor vehicles, have gone nowhere in the Missouri legislature.

The main impediment to passing these laws in recent years has been the influence of a few powerful senators.  With new leadership coming into the MIssouri Senate in 2023, we feel like this year presents the first real opportunity in over then years to move this issue forward in Missouri.

We are planning to put it at the top of MoBikeFed's legislative agenda for 2023.

A large and unified coalition of groups across Missouri support a move to require hands-free devices while driving and generally reduce distracted driving. 

MoDOT has gathered and summarized key data on distracted driving in Missouri:

In the last five years, no behavior on our roadways has become more alarming than distracted driving. Distracted driving can be anything that diverts the driver’s attention from the task of driving. Cell phone related crashes, in particular, are one of the fastest growing causes of traffic crashes in Missouri, increasing by more than 30%. Furthermore, we know these intentional acts are under reported in traffic crashes, thus contributing to even more crashes than the data suggests.

Missourians have identified cell phone use as one of the most concerning behaviors they readily observe on our roadways. This supports recent data from AT&T that nearly 9 in 10 people engage in some level of smartphone activity while driving. Sadly, over half of the distracted driving fatalities in Missouri claimed the life of another person.

Key stats for Missouri:

• 82 People killed in MO distracted driving crashes in 2020
   
• 389 people killed in MO distracted driving crashes in 2017-2021

• 80% of distracted drivers in fatal crashes were older than 21 years of age

• 59% of people killed, were someone other than the distracted driver.

• 15% average decrease in fatality rates for states with a hands-free law

Improving safety for all road users in one of four primary goals in MoBikeFed's Vision for Bicycling and Walking in Missouri. Working with the Missouri legislature to improve Missouri's traffic safety laws is one way we work towards that goal.

Your ongoing membership and generous financial support helps turn our Vision into reality!

Photo credit: Texting While Driving by OzLady on FlickR. License: CC BY-NC 2.0.