Minnesota drivers on their cell phones will have to use hands-free mode beginning August 1st, but don’t expect a total ban on behind-the-wheel calls anytime soon. “It would asking as much… [a] prohibiting people from holding a conversation with a seat mate or listening to the radio — and I don’t think our culture is gonna change *that* much,” says Hutchinson Republican Scott Newman, who sponsored the bill in the Minnesota Senate. But others say research proves that talking on a cell phone while driving is more distracting than conversing with a passenger.
Minnesota State Patrol Chief, Colonel Matt Langer says about a total ban: “I think that’s a conversation that we need to keep having and talking about. That would be the ultimate goal, and we maybe can talk more about Minnesotans making that choice themselves, without the law.” Langer says hands-free doesn’t mean distraction-free, and Minnesotans need to pay attention to driving as the most important task behind the wheel.