Teachers everyday remind students how to be safe in and out of school. They teach them how to be kind, responsible, and respectful everyday.
Government and AP psychology teacher Mr. Matt Barker did this by talking to each of his classes about the new hands-free law in Missouri.
The law prohibits all drivers from typing, scrolling, and holding their cellphones. This is a change to the past law which stated that only drivers over the age of 21 could go on their phone while driving.
Barker taught his government classes about the details of the law and he taught his psychology classes about the psychological aspect of using phones.
“I talked to my class about how you can get a rush of dopamine when they look at their phone, and that’s how we can get addicted to it,” Barker said.
Nationwide, roughly 1.6 million crashes caused in part of distracted driving happen every year, according to Edgar Synder Associates. This also includes teenagers, with roughly 21% of fatal accidents being caused by using cellphones while driving.
Missouri decided to limit this by putting a new law into effect Monday, Aug. 28. This was passed in early July.
This law is called “Siddens Bening Hands Free law” named after two Missourians, Randall Siddens and Michael Bening, who both died in car crashes that were caused by distracted driving.
However, this law does not mean drivers cannot use their phone at all while driving, as it still permits drivers to use hands-free music, calls, GPS, and texting. As long as there is no phone in their hands while driving, they will not get in trouble. The hands-free law does not apply to commercial drivers however.
This law is a secondary enforcement which means a police officer can only write a citation after stopping a driver for another reason.
It will be $150 the first offense, $250 for the second offense in 24 months and $500 for the third. However, it can cost up to $500 if the driver is in a school zone or construction zone.
Missouri politicians hope this new law will sway drivers to drive saver and stay off their phones on the road.
It’s been a struggle for some students with this new law since the Wentzville School District has implemented the new no phone rule. Students have had to pause and take a break from their phone a lot more than their used to with the combination of these two things.
“The students have been really good about it [New School Phone Rule] so far, but now they need to be more aware in their car with a harsher penalty,” Barker said.
Cohen Waldren is a senior and talked about how he thinks the new law will decrease the amount of teenage crashes. “Especially high school kids, even if you’re on your phone for a second, it will only take that long to crash,” Waldren said.
Many drivers are still nervous about this law with all the rules. However, drivers can still use their phone if they are stopped at either a stop sign or stoplight or parked.
This new law brings hope that the number of crashes, and therefore fatalities, will decrease as time goes on.
