Tina Smith testified from a wheelchair about
how she and her husband, Lorin, had stopped
their motorcycle along a road when they were
hit by a minivan whose driver was looking at a
cellphone. Each lost a leg in the crash.
Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb introduced the
Indianapolis couple during his State of the State
speech last month as he called for passage of
the handheld cellphone ban. Versions of the
measure are in effect in at least 20 states.
Smith echoed other supporters of the ban who
say it would have the same impact as enforcing
speed limits and laws requiring seat belt use on
making highways safer.
“The seat belt law didn’t get going right away,”
she said. “But if you look now, you see almost
everybody with a seat belt on.”
Distracted driving was to blame in at least 860
crashes with injuries and 48 fatalities across
Indiana last year, according to state police.
State Police Superintendent Doug Carter and
other officials acknowledged it would be
difficult to prove a driver was handling a phone
at the time of a crash, but argued that a state
ban would send a message about acceptable
driver conduct.
Holcomb said Tuesday that he understands
arguments that actions such as eating also
distract drivers, but that he believes cellphone
use is especially dangerous.
“It is pulling your brain, it is pulling your
eyes and it is pulling your hands off the job
they’re supposed to be doing,” Holcomb said.
“Sometimes for an extended period of time.”
Several people who have been injured or
whose family members have been killed in