Hands-free driving laws save lives, research says. So where is Wisconsin’s?

At least 29 states prohibit holding a cell phone while driving, but not Wisconsin. Distracted driving killed nearly 3,300 Americans in 2023.

By Peter Cameron, THE BADGER PROJECT

The next time you are on or near a road, and not operating a car yourself, take a look around. You will probably see a familiar, but terrifying sight: drivers fiddling with their phones.

The average car weighs about 4,000 pounds. Imagine the damage that wrecking ball of metal and plastic does when it slams into something. Or someone.

Distracted driving killed nearly 3,300 Americans in 2023, according to an estimate from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

It is one of the leading causes of fatal motor vehicle accidents in the United States, according to a 2022 study from the National Institutes of Health.

That study found “robust evidence” that states which pass laws to restrict the use of handheld devices while driving saves lives. More than four per week in the early years of implementation.

The returns decrease over time, but the study still found that the long-term benefits of a ban resulted in the reduction of nearly 70 traffic fatalities per state per year.

So far, at least 29 states have banned the holding of a phone while driving, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Texting and driving is illegal in Wisconsin, as is holding a phone while driving in a construction zone. But holding a phone on the rest of the road is not.

Illinois banned hand-held cellphone use while driving in 2014, and Minnesota in 2019, including citations that increase in severity for each violation.

In 2020, Republican Sen. Van Wanggaard of Racine and five Democrats introduced a hands-free driving bill in the GOP-controlled Wisconsin State Legislature, but it did not advance far before dying.

Sen. Wanggaard, now the Assistant Majority Leader of the state Senate, did not respond to messages seeking comment. Neither did the offices of top Republican leaders: Assembly Speaker Robin Vos nor Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu.

State Sen. Jeff Smith (D-Eau Claire), one of the few Democratic sponsors of the bill still in office, was also in the state Legislature when it passed the ban on texting and driving in 2010.

“Since we’ve passed that bill, people think we’ve done enough,” he said in a phone interview.

Smith, the Assistant Minority Leader, said he wants to do a hands-free driving law, but the Republican majority has been mostly uninterested.

“I’ve introduced over 200 bills in the last couple of sessions, and I’ve had two hearings, he said. “It gets kind of to the point where we’ll just have to start winning elections and get to the majority and then we’ll pass bills.”

Democrats will have a chance to retake the state Legislature for the first time in more than a decade next year.

The Badger Project is a nonpartisan, citizen-supported journalism nonprofit in Wisconsin.