PENNSYLVANIA (WBRE/WYOU) — According to Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) data, in 2024, there were nearly 10,000 crashes involving a distracted driver, resulting in more than 6,000 injuries and 49 deaths.
Paul Miller's Law will take effect on Thursday. Under this new law, if you have your phone in your hand, for any reason, while driving, you could face consequences.
Effective June 5, 2025, Paul Miller's Law makes it illegal to hold your cellphone while driving.
"The short version is you just can't be holding your phone or physically touching it. The only things you can do is if you're getting a phone call, if your car has a button on it's radio display or on its steering wheel, you can still use that function to answer the phone, but you still can't physically touch the phone itself," Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) Troop P Wilkes-Barre Public Information Officer Trooper Bill Evans explained.
Texting while driving is already illegal in PA, but troopers say it's been tricky to enforce.
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"Before this law we used to always have a texting and driving law that said you couldn't text and drive, but there was almost a seemingly built in loophole to that law that would allow people to say that, you know, instead of making a text they were sending a phone call and there was nothing we could do to really prove that beyond a reasonable doubt," Trooper Evans stated.
Paul Miller's Law comes after years of efforts from lawmakers and Eileen Miller, who has been tirelessly advocating for change after her son Paul was killed by a distracted driver back in 2010.
PSP says Paul Miller's law will help them keep the roads safer.
"We're happy that we finally got to this point thanks to the Paul Miller Law, thanks to Paul Miller's mother, Eileen, who was a big advocate in making this law happen. Ultimately, our goal as state troopers on the interstates and on the highways is to get the total number of crashes down to zero, and one thing that's going to help eliminate crashes is curbing distracted driving," Trooper Evans continued.
Police plan to enforce this visually while on patrol. For the first year the law is in effect, offenders will receive a warning.
Starting June 5, 2026, if you are caught with a phone in hand, you'll receive a fine.
