A proposed law would allow police officers to pull people over for making calls while behind the wheel, unless they use a speaker phone or another hands-free device.

State Rep. Rosemary Brown, R-Monroe, proposed a bill last week that would ban handheld devices behind the wheel. Drivers under 18 would be completely prohibited from making calls.Brown said that she was inspired to do something to deter distracted driving. Hands-free devices may not be the ultimate solution, but she says it is a step toward it."There are still distractions with hands-free technology, but the scope shows that it minimizes more than having it up to your ear," she said.Under the proposed bill, using a handheld phone behind the wheel would carry a $50 penalty and three points on a license.It already has 16 co-sponsors and has been referred to the House's committee on transportation.Pennsylvania is one of 26 states that do not have a law prohibiting handheld devices.New York and New Jersey both have bans on handheld devices. Brown said she heard from commuters from Pennsylvania who like the idea."I think it makes it consistent in the northeastern region, and I think it's something that will really help minimize the distractions of one of the strongest distractions we have, which is the cellphone," she said.Drivers can already be pulled over for texting while driving. It carries a $50 fine. That law has been in place since 2012.Daniel's Law, passed in 2016, increased the penalty for crashes where the driver was found to have been texting. Fatal crashes carry a minimum penalty of five years imprisonment; those with serious injury, two.Some police officers say that the current ban is too hard to enforce. Courts have determined that officers are required to get phone records showing a person was sending or receiving a text. That makes sense after a crash, but maybe not for a traffic stop, West Penn Police Chief Brian Johnson said."Now if you're involved in an accident, then of course you'll do that. But on a normal traffic stop, officers don't want to invest all that time for a simple summary infraction," Johnson said.Under Brown's bill, if a driver feels they've been wrongly accused, they can use their phone records to challenge the citation.Brown said she hopes to make the new law as easy as possible for officers to enforce."I think it is realistic to enforce it," she said. "I really feel that it's something that a police officer can see, if it's up to your ear."