New Bill Bans Handheld Devices While Driving

A new bill working its way through the North Carolina General Assembly would ban the use of handheld electronic devices while driving.

Currently, texting while driving is illegal in North Carolina, but talking on your phone, surfing the web, or posting to social media is not. If passed, Senate Bill 20 would change that. It's essentially the same bill that died in the Senate two years ago. Although public support in North Carolina for stricter hands-free laws remains — with more than 80% approving — opposition among some key conservative lawmakers has not wavered, says Meredith College political science professor and Meredith Poll director David McLennan.

"The public opinion is consistently strong in favor of doing something," says McLennan. "But it just seems like those individual liberty arguments in the legislature at least prevailed enough in 2019 and may prevail enough this year to keep laws from getting passed."

There are twenty-five states and the District of Columbia with similar bans already in place including Virginia, Georgia, and Tennessee.