Ticketed For Holding A Cell Phone?

You could pay a $100 fine for chattin on cell while driving.

You bet!                                                                                                                        

A friend mentioned to me that it is now against the law in some areas to hold a cell phone while driving. Doesn't matter if you're using it to carry on a conversation. The sheer act of holding the cell phone in Michigan could cost you $100. The law in Michigan has been expanded to make it verboten to hold your phone while driving. 

Did 'cha know that chattin' on a hand-held cellphone while driving is banned in 14 states and the District of Columbia?

In the State of Michigan, texting while driving is illegal with the first offense starting at $100. Subsequent offenses increase to $200. I do not text and drive. It's against the law. It causes accidents. You shouldn't either. 

There's talk about Michigan enacting a ‘Textalzyer’ law (New York already has it) that would allow police to conduct roadside electronic scanning to determine whether drivers were on cell phones ‘at or near the time’ of a car crash. Michigan attorneys are all for it because of the number of people being injured. The numbers of motor vehicle accidents being caused by people driving distracted, and especially by people who are texting while driving is staggering.

WWJ reported in March 2016 that there’s a new call for Michigan lawmakers to pass a hands-free law as it pertains to cellphones and drivers. Authorities say a hands-free law would prohibit any physical manipulation of an electronic device while operating a motor vehicle and forbid a driver from using a hand-held phone. The goal is for all drivers to keep their eyes on the road and hands on the steering wheel.

You can still use a cell phone while driving, even hold it, but in many cities in the mitten state, it must be hands-free. You better know which cities those are because if you're cruising on the X-Way chatting on your sophisticated phone, you can be fined.  

For example, in the City of Detroit, it is against the law to hold the phone while talking. 

Detroit expert and journalist, Laura Sternberg says it this way: 

"Detroit's Hands-Free Ordinance bans the use of a cell-phone while driving unless the driver is using a hands-free device. The ban, however, is a civil infraction and only enforced as a secondary offense. In other words, the driver must be pulled over for another traffic violation before he/she can be ticketed for cell phone use. Fines are $100. Like most laws that ban cell-phone use while driving, the ordinance excepts emergencies," she said.

According to an article posted on ClickonDetroit.com Sternberg said, the Distracting Behavior Ordinance is similarly enforced and bans other distracting behaviors, such as text messaging, applying makeup and eating while driving.

Seriously, how many of us whip out a mascara wand, chow on a Big Mac or reach for the water bottle that fell on the floor of the passenger seat?  Many of us do. And, many of us need to stop. If we won't on our own, the proverbial Boys In Blue will help us remember that driving is a privilege. The goal is for all drivers to keep their eyes on the road and hands on the steering wheel.

The city of Troy, Michigan has taken the state’s “no texting while driving” law a bit further, making it illegal to talk on the phone while driving, among other things. 

It's the big Memorial Day Weekend. I put on more miles on my car in a week than many do in three months. Since Tuesday, I have seen Police pulling over drivers for a variety of reasons. Follow the rules of the road. Just be really careful. Yes, you matter.