Considering Hands Free

I once saw a bumper sticker that read “Honk If you love Jesus, text if you want to meet him!” Cute.

The levity of that, however, didn’t hit me until I took a recent road trip with my husband to Kansas City. We had a number of unnerving interactions on the interstate and local roads with people texting and driving. This included an incident where a semi was swerving back and forth into both driving lanes. Upon passing, we realized the driver was not looking at the road or oncoming traffic, but to his passenger’s side, typing on the electronic device mounted on the dash. With a guardrail on our left, a semi drifting back into our lane, and my husband laying on the horn, I was bracing to end up in the ditch, or worse. I don’t know the physics involved but we were driving over 70 mph and for a brief moment I felt the force between the two vehicles pulling together. We were that close. It was that close. A couple of profanities were exchanged in the cab of our pickup, but I think we were mostly shaken up about the close call.

As a scientist, my husband encouraged me to undertake a little informal research study. I tracked how many drivers of the next one hundred vehicles we encountered were on their phones. I am sad to report it was 68. These were not just Zoomers on TikTok either. People of every age group and demographic were using their phones while driving cars, pickups, moving vans, semis, and even farm equipment. Adults with children in the back seat were on their phones.

That was my experience, but I thought I should back it up. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2021 there were 3,522 people killed and an estimated additional 362,415 people injured in motor vehicle traffic crashes involving distracted drivers. Additionally, in the same year there were 644 nonoccupants (pedestrians, pedal cyclists, and others) killed in distraction-affected traffic crashes.

While I don’t have any hard numbers for our state, we all know our interstates, highways, and drivers are not unlike the rest of the country. South Dakota does have laws addressing the use of mobile devices while driving in State Statute (SDCL 32-647.1). It does, however, provide for exceptions which makes it difficult for local law enforcement discern what’s actually happening.

For example, there is a difference as to whether someone was actually texting (not legal while driving in South Dakota) or if they were looking up a contact or number (legal according to State Statute). Some of our larger cities do have stricter local ordinances targeting texting and driving, but with how much windshield time we have in the state, I would like to suggest we consider amending the statute to become entirely handsfree across the state.

I am not alone; there is already someone interested in considering a hands-free bill or amending the current distracted driving bill from the southeast corner of the state. If it is brought forward, I hope our membership and SDML policy committees will discuss this with the police and sheriffs’ associations along with the Municipal Attorney Association to make sure the language is enforceable and strong enough to have real implications for distracted driving.

I’d also recommend our organization support this type of bill. We all got the memo on seatbelts and child safety seats. I think we all understand the dangers of drunk driving, too. Distracted driving and cell phone use while driving is going to end in more deaths in our state. We should do everything we can to support law enforcement to end this terrible and deadly habit.

Please let me know if you have ever had a close call with a distracted driver. Have this conversation with your community members, council members, and our state legislators too. I am sure many of us are spending time on the highways this summer. No family deserves to have this type of unnecessary tragedy impact their lives. ■