Pennsylvania law banning cell phone use while driving goes into effect in June

Paul Miller’s name is now etched into law 15 years after a tragedy.

“The Paul Miller incident is a really tragic ending to how serious distracted driving and the impact it can have on families,” said Elizabeth Township Police Chief Ken Honick.

Miller was killed on the eastern side of the state by a distracted driver in 2010. For 15 years, his mom pushed to make Pennsylvania a hands-free state. Starting June 5th, the law that bears his name is in effect.

“I think it’s good you see a lot of people going to work in the morning, not paying attention, looking at their phone,s and on their phone,s so it will probably cut down on a lot of accidents,” John Hair said.

For the first year, officers will only issue a written warning, but that can come by just touching your device.

“We are going to be looking for current safety violations, and one of the things we are going to be looking for is people on their phone, whether it’s up to your head or some sort of texting,” Honick said.

Come June 2026, the violation goes up to a $50 fine, and some people we talked to don’t think that’s enough.

“It has to be some kind of deterrent and $50 probably isn’t going to do it,” Hair said.

Part of the law is for police departments to also collect information on the driver’s race and gender. That information will be publicly published each year to work on preventing bias.

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