WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Making roads safer, is the goal of Senate Bill 37 also known as Paul's Law.
On Tuesday the bill made it passed the House of Representatives' Transportation Committee, which means the bill is one step closer to becoming law.
The bill is named after Paul Miller a Scranton man who was killed in a car crash in 2010 by a distracted truck driver on a cell phone.
"I don't want anyone else to lose a life," said Eileen Miller, Paul's mother and a road safety advocate.
Paul Miller's mother, Eileen, has been an advocate for safe drivers since her son passed away. She has been heavily involved in the writing of this bill named after her son.
This law aims to make the roads safer by increasing penalties for people holding a cell phone while driving. If passed drivers will be required to mount their cell phone. Advocates of this bill do not want people texting or scrolling on their phones behind the wheel.
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"I've spent a lot of hard time down in Harrisburg fighting for this I know it's gonna save lives. It's just been a long hard time. It should've been done a long time ago but I'm very very happy. We've made a lot of hard progress with it," Eileen stated.
If passed there will be a twelve-month period where traffic officers will only give warnings. But after that, the fines could be as high as $500. Miller also believes there needs to be more education for new drivers about the dangers of distracted driving.
"I think that's a great part of our legislation as they have to go with their parents who are going to get their licenses and that, and actually look up distracted driving and what it actually is, and I think that's great. Listen we need education, we need legislation, we need enforcement, and that's all part of learning what distracted driving is.
Miller says she worked with local legislatures almost immediately after her son was killed and is looking forward to this bill moving to Governor Shapiro's desk.
"I'm really grateful that we're all working together and I really, really want to see this go through and I want to see it signed and gone through the governor," Eileen continued.
Eileen Miller hopes this bill will be placed into law in April, which is National Driver Awareness Month.
