Law enforcement ready to crack down on distracted driving

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — At the turn of the new year, local law enforcement will be looking for drivers using their phones behind the wheel.

The Hands-Free Law went into effect on August 2023, but law enforcement has given drivers a grace period to warn them of the dangers and the consequences they could face beginning January 1.

Even though the law went into effect in 2023, Sgt. Mike McClure with the Missouri State Highway Patrol says this last year has been used as an educational learning period for drivers caught using their phones while driving.

"It's something that unfortunately we have to legislate to get people to do, and those people know that it's not safe to do," said McClure. "Yet that's the culture that we live in."

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Sgt. McClure warns that if a driver is caught texting and driving, the fines aren't cheap.

"The first offense is $150, the second offense is $250, the third offense is $500 and those penalties can be added to depending on if there was a crash involving property damage that exceed a certain monetary level," said McClure.

However, the new law is still a secondary law, meaning you can not be pulled over for simply being on your phone behind the wheel — you have to commit some type of traffic violation.

"Once we make that probable cause, stop for that moving violation or that equipment violation, noting that we've seen the driver or passenger that doesn't have a seatbelt on or is holding that device while they're driving, then that violation would kick in then," said McClure.

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Drivers Carson Howe and Weston Grimes said they had seen people on their phones almost cause a wreck. They say if you need to be on your phone, simply pull over.

"I think it's very important, not like especially some people on social media while driving," said Howe. "I think it's just very important to get where you're going and if you need to be on your phone that bad, take a break, go pee, go get some gas, something like that."

The Governors Highway Safety Association says close to 400 people have been killed in the last five years due to distracted driving.