04-06-2025
New Pennsylvania driving law banning cell phone use takes effect Thursday
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. (WTAJ) — Police and PennDOT are reminding drivers to 'Put down the phone and make it home.'
Paul Miller's law goes into effect across Pennsylvania Thursday. It means anyone using a cellphone or other hand-held device behind the wheel can be pulled over by police and issued a warning. The law defines cellphone use as holding it in one hand, supporting it with any body part, pressing more than a single button to answer a phone call or otherwise operate it and reaching for a hand-held device in a way that makes the driver move from a proper seated position.
Starting in June 2026, drivers will be issued a summary traffic violation and a $50 fine for distracted driving.
At a press conference Wednesday, police from many Blair County departments said this law couldn't come soon enough as in 2024 alone, distracted driving killed 49 people and injured more than 6,000 others in the state.
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'Studies show that people are on the phones checking the phones 100, 200 times a day and roughly on them 4 to 6 hours. And they're doing that whether they're in a car, at home or anywhere else. And obviously being behind the wheel doing that is extremely unsafe,' said Sergeant Patrick Tomassetti, Public Relations Officer with the Altoona Police Department.
The new law is named after Paul Miller who was killed in 2010 after a distracted driver of a semi-truck crossed a center divider and hit Miller's car head-on.
'This is a long time coming. We always complain about doing the right enforcement and getting the right bills in there, getting the right laws made. This is one that's been, should have been done years and years ago,' said patrol officer Jeff Ketner with Duncansville Borough Police Department.
Police said they will be taking the new law very serious and that drivers may see an increase in police presence along roadways while officers work to inform drivers of the new changes.
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