New cell phone use while driving law takes effect on November 1
Wisconsin Department of Transportation Press Release
A new state law that prohibits drivers with an instruction permit or probationary license—which includes many teenagers—from “using a cellular or other wireless telephone except to report an emergency” while driving takes effect on Nov. 1. A driver violating this restriction on cell phone use is subject to a forfeiture of $20 to $40 for a first offense and $50 to $100 for a subsequent offense within a year.
“We hope that the new law will deter teenagers and other inexperienced drivers from using their cell phone while behind the wheel, which can be a dangerous distraction,” says Wisconsin State Patrol Maj. Sandra Huxtable, director of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Safety. “In a national study, 43 percent of 16 and 17-year-olds said they have talked on a cell phone while driving, and 40 percent of teens up to age 17 said they have been in a car when the driver used a cell phone in a way that put themselves or others in danger.”
According to Major Huxtable, cell phone use can distract a driver’s attention from traffic and road conditions. “Distracted driving is a problem even for experienced drivers. But it often is even more hazardous for teen drivers who are not experienced,” she says. “Traffic crashes kill more teenagers in Wisconsin and the rest of the nation than any other cause of death. And distracted driving is a factor in many of these crashes.”
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