The Indiana state legislature banned cell phones for young drivers, but lawmakers said they weren’t aware of what they did.
Indiana has banned any driver under 21 from using a cell phone for any reason except to dial 911. Before the law took effect on July 1, drivers under 18 were banned from using cell phones.
But depending on which Indiana politician gets the question, the provision sneaked into the bill before its passage, or it was a failure of due diligence.
The (Fort Wayne) Journal Gazette reported that state Representative Dan Leonard said, “There seems to be more and more times where people are not being forthright with what’s in their bills.”
Leonard might be right in general, especially on the federal level as bills get longer with more obscure and irrelevant provisions, but in this instance, it might be a case of lazy politicians.
State Representative Ben Smaltz laid the blame on politicians not reading the bills, saying that the bill’s intent was clear on whether it would expand cell phone restrictions.
Supporters of the bill cited safety reasons, claiming that driving fatalities for young adults between 18 and 21 have risen, while they have fallen for those under 18, thanks to restricted legal usage of cell phones.
