ST PAUL, Minn. — Gov. Tim Walz has signed a bill that will require motorists to use hands-free devices to talk on the phone while driving on Minnesota roads starting Aug. 1.
At a signing ceremony Friday, Walz paid tribute to dozens of people surrounding him who lost loved ones in crashes caused by distracted drivers. He said lives will be saved because of their years of campaigning for the law.
"The pain stays with you. It will never go away, it will always be with you and that loss will always be there," Gov. Walz told families who gathered at his State Capitol office for the bill-signing ceremony.
"We will reduce deaths. Sons will come home. Mothers will come home. Our children and grandchildren will come home because of the work that you did."
The law bars motorists from holding and using cellphones or other wireless devices while driving. Any kind of keyboarding -- typing addresses into map apps, dialing a phone number or scrolling through a contact list -- will be illegal while the vehicle is in motion.
Built-in technology in newer model cars meet the requirements that systems be voice-activated. So do hands-free mounts sold by many retailers. Even one earbud with a microphone built can work, as long as one ear is still free to hear traffic.
The Department of Public Safety will spend the next several months on a public awareness campaign to educate motorists on the ins and outs of the new law. There's already a helpful FAQ list on the DPS website.
"Their courage, perseverance and dignity have changed hearts and minds here at the Capitol," Rep. Frank Hornstein, the lead House author, remarked.
One of those minds that changed belonged to Sen. Scott Newman, the Hutchinson Republican who marshaled the bill through the same Senate that wouldn't consider the bill a year earlier.
"Notice the folks behind me? Those are the folks that have brought us here," Sen. Newman told reporters, referencing people who stood holding photos of friends and family who've been killed by distracted drivers.
"They changed my heart. I listened to these stories in the Transportation Committee. And four years ago I would not have supported this bill."
Vijay Dixit launched a major campaign to raise awareness and lobby for a hands-free law back in 2007 when his daughter Shreya, a college student, died in a crash caused by a distracted driver. He noted that she died the same year smartphones arrived, which exponentially increased the risks.
He said the survivors who pressed the issue at the Capitol are only a fraction of those struggling to overcome the needless deaths of family members.
"There are tons of of them who cannot even get up from the bed in the morning, because their loved one was lost and they just cannot do anything."
This makes Minnesota the 17th state in the nation to enact a ban on hand-held cell phones for those in control of cars. The District of Columbia also prohibits holding phones while driving.
Col. Matt Langer of the Minnesota State Patrol also praised the families for their work to push the bill over the finish line. He said it will make much easier for police to enforce the state's current ban on texting while driving, because people will no longer have the built-in excuse that they were dialing a number.
The new law marks an important bipartisan success for the Democratic governor and a Legislature divided between a Democratic-controlled House and Republican-controlled Senate, where difficult fights are looming over taxes and spending.