The Minnesota House today on a vote of 107-19 passed a compromise version of a bill banning cell phone use while behind the wheel–unless in hands-free mode. Similar measures have failed to get much traction in the state legislature in past years and Representative Frank Hornstein of Minneapolis says what’s changed: “it’s the families, it’s the people that have been directly affected by this issue that have lost loved ones. I believe that they were the people who turned the conversation around here at the Capitol. There was a time when we couldn’t even get a hearing on this bill.”
Some opponents of the bill, however, say it is confusing. Republican Representative Eric Lucero of Dayton voted “no” and said that under the bill, the simple act of holding a phone, whether it’s on or off, could put a person in violation of the law and added, “that to me is an absurdity.” But Hornstein said, “what’s absurd is what people do behind the wheel, what’s absurd is that they’re watching movies, they’re texting, they’re not keeping their eyes on the road, that’s what absurd.” The Senate is expected to vote on the measure soon and Governor Walz today said he would sign the bill.