It has been mystifying to me why the state has not completely banned hand-held cellphone use while driving. Isn’t this a no-brainer? But for whatever reason, various obstacles have littered the path to adoption of this common-sense legislation.

One of its strongest advocates, State Sen. Rosemary Brown, R-Monroe, is making another concerted effort at finally doing something about this major issue that poses such a serious danger on our highways.

It was just last week, as I was driving along Route 248 between Palmerton and Bowmanstown, when a car passed me. The driver was speaking animatedly on his cellphone, then slammed on the brakes to avoid a line of cars stopped in front of us, coming within inches of the vehicle in front of him.

Brown has lined up bipartisan support, including backing from committee leadership, to finally get this much needed legislation (Senate Bill 37) over the finish line. Brown is serving her first term in the Senate, but she has been working on this legislation for eight years, formerly as a state representative.

The bill enhances driver responsibility by establishing a prohibition on physically holding or supporting with the body an interactive wireless communications device while operating a motor vehicle on a Pennsylvania highway.

Bluetooth technology and hands-free devices and capabilities are still acceptable uses. The bill addresses the dangers cellphones create for motorists and the potential lives that could be saved with awareness and prevention. Brown said the legislation is “reasonable, fair and enforceable.”

“Distracted driving while utilizing a cellphone is an issue that affects all areas of this Commonwealth and is a very real public safety concern,” Brown said. “Cellphones are a consistent, addictive distraction that divert attention for an extended period of time, leading to crashes and preventable deaths of innocent drivers.”

Brown announced her plans for the legislation at a recent news conference that was filled with not only talking political heads but with the pleas of a mother who lost a son in a distracted driving crash.

Eileen Miller of Scranton, who has been a vocal advocate for this type of legislation ever since her 21-year-old son, Paul, died in 2010 when a tractor-trailer driver going 69 mph in a 45-mph work zone lost control of his vehicle while he was on a phone call, crossed Route 33 in Hamilton Township, Monroe County, and crashed head-on into her son’s vehicle. The crash was near the site of a five-vehicle pileup earlier this month that killed three and injured several others.

Miller was a senior at East Stroudsburg University and was returning from a party the previous night when the crash occurred.

If she had her way, Miller would require all cellphones to be turned off while a vehicle is in motion, but she realizes that this is a big ask, maybe even an impossible goal.

While speaking at the news conference, Miller said it felt like Groundhog’s Day, because of the continuing efforts for nearly a decade to get this legislation passed but, so far, without success.

In an emotional, heartfelt address, her voice breaking at times, Miller said that her son saw this tractor-trailer coming at him at a high rate of speed, but “had nowhere to go.” She said, “In one second, my life was changed.” State police arrived at her doorstep to tell her that “my strong, healthy, young, handsome son had been killed” in what was a completely preventable crash. If passed, the act will be named the “Paul Miller Law.”

On average, distracted driving causes about 3,000 deaths a year nationwide, At least 23 states have a form of cellphone usage ban while driving, and 48 states, including Pennsylvania, have a ban on texting while driving.

During the news conference, Brown was joined by Senate Transportation Committee Chair and a co-sponsor of the legislation, Sen. Wayne Langerholc, Jr., R-Cambria, to whose committee the proposed legislation will be assigned.

The time is now to get this legislation passed. As Eileen Miller so aptly put it, nothing on that phone is so important that it is worth risking a human life.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com

The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.