CLEVELAND — Across Ohio, police will no longer need another reason to pull drivers over if they are seen texting while driving.
Senate Bill 288, which was signed into law in January, makes texting and driving a primary offense in the state, which means law enforcement can stop and issue citations to drivers solely for that offense.
Before, police in jurisdictions where texting was a secondary offense needed another reason to initiate a stop, such as speeding or blowing through a red light.
"Now with this new law, all we need is the officer observing it," said Sgt. Bridget Matt with Ohio State Highway Patrol. "That’s good enough for the citation and that will stand up in court."
When does the new law go into effect?
The law, which goes into effect on April 4, prohibits drivers from holding and looking at electronic wireless communications behind the wheel — that includes cell phones, watches or any other electronic device.
For the first six months, only warnings will be issued for the primary offense. After that grace period, the following penalties go into effect:
- First Violation: Up to $150 fine and two points on your license, unless a distracted driving safety course is completed.
- Second Violation (within two years): Up to $250 fine and three points on your license
- Third Violation (within two years): up to $500 fine, four points on your license and a 90-day driver's license suspension
Sgt. Bridget Matt with Ohio State Highway Patrol told News 5 that even in her patrol car, she still sees distracted drivers every single day.
"I’ve seen people texting with the phone up at their face, below in their lap with their face completely diverted from the roadway," she said. "The majority of people passing, you see a cell phone in their hand."
The new law comes after troopers reported 10,276 distracted driver crashes in 2022, with Cuyahoga County leading the state with nearly 1,000.
"It used to be if you saw a car swerving outside of their lane of travel, you knew it was going to be a drunk driver," Sgt. Matt said. "Now, more often than not, it's someone on their cell phone. But it looks just like someone drunk driving or driving impaired."
Going forward, she said texting while driving will be one of the higher priorities for the department with the new law.
"We want people to be safe while driving," she added.
What will enforcement look like?
In addition to Ohio State Highway Patrol's increased emphasis on texting while driving, the new law has already been on the books for years, just at the local level in some communities.
Since 2014, Shaker Heights has banned texting while driving. Last year, 313 drivers were ticketed.
Brooklyn is believed to be the first place in the United States to ban using a cell phone while driving, after making it a law in 1999.
Their officers handed out 64 citations last year.
But then there are other places with the primary offense already on the books, like Avon, which only issued 10 texting citations last year.
"It can be difficult [to enforce]" Chief Dan Fischbach said. "The way the laws are written by the legislators, there are some acceptable reasons to have a phone in your hand and it is difficult for us to know exactly, at that given time, what you’re doing on your phone."
When the law went into effect in Beachwood in 2012, the department handed out hundreds of citations and warnings each year. However, since then, officers have only handed out a total of five texting citations over the last couple of years.
As Deputy Chief John Resek points out, there are a couple of reasons for that.
Without a clear visual, he said it may be easier to cite a driver for a different ordinance, such as failing to maintain a safe distance between cars.
"It’s hard to accurately gauge it 100 percent," he said.
Are there any exceptions to the law? Yup.
Both Beachwood and Avon officers pointed out that exceptions to their laws can make it more difficult to enforce, and the same can be said about the new statewide law.
Drivers can use their handheld phone for emergency calls, while parked or stopped at a red light, swiping/pressing to accept or decline a call, or can just hold the phone to their ear.
Those at Bike Cleveland told News 5 that while the new law is a step in the right direction, the exceptions are a bit disheartening for bicyclists who have to maneuver and deal with distracted drivers.
"You’re still encouraging and allowing that distraction to happen piecemeal along the way without just straight calling it a ban," said Jason Kuhn with Bike Cleveland.
Clay LePard is a special projects reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow him on Twitter @ClayLePard or on Facebook Clay LePard News 5.
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