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Ohio’s state agencies say data show distracted driving law is working

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (Statehouse News Bureau) — Distracted driving became a primary offense well over a year ago in Ohio, on the phone or otherwise. State agencies marked a milestone Wednesday with statistics they argue show the hands-free law is working.

a man uses his cell phone as he drives through traffic in Dallas
In this Feb. 26, 2013 file photo, a man uses his cell phone as he drives through traffic in Dallas. [LM Otero | AP]
Although Gov. Mike DeWine signed Senate Bill 288 into law in January 2023, a six-month grace period meant penalties for distracted driving weren’t doled out until October 2023 at the earliest.

Now, accidents in which a driver was distracted are down 12% year-over-year, according to the latest Ohio Department of Public Safety data. Those statistics showed a decrease from 9,529 to 8,417 in incidents from the year before the law took effect to the year following.

Fatal distracted driving fell, too, from 31 incidents to 25.

Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP) Lieutenant Ray Santiago said he believes the data is thanks to the law in action. The agency alone averaged 69 citations for distracted driving or something related per day, a 263% increase year-over-year. When distracted driving was a secondary offense, they averaged 19 citations per day.

Data collected through a partnership between the Ohio Department of Transportation and Cambridge Mobile Telematics also showed electronic screen use while driving is down 10%.

DeWine commended the numbers.

“Ohio’s tougher distracted driving law is influencing better behavior behind the wheel, leading to fewer crashes and fewer deaths,” DeWine said in a press release.

But Santiago said with more than 25,000 citations by OSHP, some drivers haven’t yet gotten the message.

“You don’t run around the pool when you see the lifeguard,” Santiago said in an interview Wednesday. “They’re not seeing us, so that’s a problem. Until we can get folks to increase their awareness and not be distracted when they’re on the road, we know that we still have work to do.”
 
In Ohio, a distracted driving citation comes with points on a person’s license and a fine on a sliding scale, although the state offers an hour-long distracted driving class for first-time offenders.

About 15,000 people participated in that course, said Ohio Traffic Safety Office spokesperson Judith Converse. One-fourth of them were out-of-state drivers, Converse said, possibly cited while passing through Ohio.