In just a couple months, drivers in Ohio could receive a $100 fine for driving distracted under a new law recently signed by Governor John Kasich.
House Bill 95 makes distracted driving a secondary offense. That means if a driver is pulled over for a moving violation and the distraction caused the offense, a person could receive the $100 fine.
Texting while driving was already illegal in Ohio, but this new law now includes other forms of distraction. This could be talking on the phone, reading a tablet, eating or applying makeup.
Lt. Rob Gable, of the Ohio State Highway Patrol, said their hope is that this law wakes drivers up to the dangers of distracted driving. Gable compared driving distracted to impaired.
"It became very socially unacceptable to get an OVI arrest and it still is. Our hope is that is doesn't have to get that bad with distracted driving and that people will make the decision. To make that choice to put away distractions before their incident ends in something catastrophe," Lt. Gable said.
If ticketed, drivers could be slapped with a $100 fine or instead of the fine they could take a distracted driving course.
The law will go into effect in late October.
