PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Pennsylvania law will take effect this summer banning the use of handheld cellphones while driving. The Pennsylvania Turnpike said the effort is to get distracted drivers to pay attention behind the wheel.
Drivers might think it’s safe to use a handheld cellphone on the turnpike, an enclosed highway with miles of straight road. They’d be wrong, said Tom Macchione, director of traffic engineering operations at the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission.
“They’re complacent, and they feel like they can now take this risk because there’s nobody around,” he said. “Even if I swerve, I’m not going to hit anybody. But you’re making a lot of assumptions.”
Macchione added that many things can take your attention away from the road.
“Not just the cellphone,” he said, “but it’s paying attention to the scenery. If you’re driving in an area that’s new to you. You’re looking at things outside your car — that can be a distraction, too.”
That’s why the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission has been adding crash cushions, called attenuators, to the back of work trucks, to protect workers from zoned-out drivers. It also installed air horns on work trucks to alert drivers unaware that they’re speeding toward a collision.
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Paul Miller’s Law, named after a man killed by a distracted truck driver in 2010, outlaws handheld cellphone or mobile device use while driving in Pennsylvania.
Since last June, Pennsylvania State Police have issued 97 warnings on the turnpike under the new law. Starting June 5, the warnings will become $50 fines, as the law takes full effect.
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