There were nearly 10,000 crashes involving distracted driving last year in Pennsylvania, killing 49 people, state transportation officials say.
Those crashes also left more than 6,000 people injured, according to PennDOT statistics.
A new law that takes effect this week is designed to curb the use of electronic devices behind the wheel and save lives.
Here's what you need to know about "Paul Miller's Law," which is named for a Scranton man killed by a distracted tractor-trailer driver in 2010.
What does the law say?
Effective June 5, 2025, no driver may use an interactive mobile device (IMD) while driving a motor vehicle.
The law makes it a primary offense to do so, which means police can stop drivers if they have a mobile device in their hand while driving.
“The Pennsylvania State Police will enforce the new law to its full extent,” PSP Commissioner Colonel Christopher Paris said in a statement released last week.
“Distracted driving is not a minor offense. Just one second of inattention can result in irreversible consequences. We urge all drivers to stay focused behind the wheel,” Paris added.
Even if I am stopped at a red light?
Handheld devices are forbidden even if you are stopped at a red light, or at a stop sign or just idling in traffic.
What if I just reach over to answer my phone?
That's also potentially illegal, depending on the circumstances.
The law prohibits: "... using at least one hand to hold, or supporting with another part of the body, an interactive mobile device, dialing or answering an interactive mobile device by pressing more than a single button, or reaching for an interactive mobile device that requires a driver to maneuver so that the driver is no longer in a seated driving position, restrained by a seat belt."
What do they consider an interactive mobile device?
The new law defines an IMD as "a handheld wireless telephone, personal digital assistant, smart phone, portable or mobile computer, or similar device which can be used for voice communication, texting, emailing, browsing the Internet, instant messaging, playing games, taking or transmitting images, recording or broadcasting videos, creating or sharing social media or otherwise sending or receiving electronic data."
Are there any exceptions?
Yes. The law allows for emergency use "if it is necessary to communicate with a law enforcement official or other emergency service to prevent injury to persons or property."
And drivers may use their devices if they move their vehicle to the side of or off a highway and stop in a location where the vehicle can safely remain stationary.
What are the penalties?
- For the first 12 months, police will be giving written warnings.
- Effective June 5, 2026, the penalty will be a summary offense with a $50 fine, plus court costs and other fees.
- If a driver is convicted of homicide by vehicle and driving while distracted, they may be sentenced up to an additional five years in prison.
Why only warnings at first?
PennDOT officials said last year that the agency needed the 12 months to update its driver’s manual, driver’s tests, and knowledge testing practice app in all available languages.
"There was also concern by the legislature on making sure the general public had some time to be aware of the changes this law makes," PennDOT spokeswoman Jennifer Kuntch said then.
How dangerous is distracted driving?
The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety analyzed data from a 2006 study by Virginia Tech’s Transportation Institute, revealing that taking your eyes off the road for more than two seconds doubles your risk of a crash.
Nationwide, distracted driving kills over 3,000 people each year, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data. That's more people than died in the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
As the statistics at the top of this story note, dozens of people died in Pennsylvania last year, and thousands were injured in crashes caused by distracted driving.
To put it in a different context, in 2023, distracted driving caused 11,262 crashes in Pennsylvania, according to state Department of Transportation data — more than the state's 8,330 alcohol-related crashes that year.
Are those figures reliable?
AAA and other safety advocates say the number of distracted driving crashes and fatalities are almost certainly underreported.
"The exact toll is unknown because investigators often have difficulty measuring the extent to which driver distraction is a contributing factor in a crash," AAA says. "Wireless device records are usually only accessed in cases of death or serious injury, drivers may not admit fault and police may not always be able to discern the role of distraction."
The National Safety Council also acknowledges this likely underreporting and describes the factors.
None of this is new, right?
No, distracted driving is not a new trend, and digital devices aren't the only culprits.
The AAA Foundation has sponsored research on distracted driving since the early 1990s, well before cellphones and other hand-held mobile devices were common — eating, smoking, personal grooming, reading maps, retrieving dropped items and changing the radio station are among the pre-digital distractions that have taken drivers' eyes off the wheel for decades.
"Anything that takes your attention away from driving, your eyes off the road, or your hands off the wheel is a distraction," a PennDOT release said.
Driver behavior is the leading factor in 83% of the crashes that occur annually in Pennsylvania, with those behaviors including distracted, impaired, or aggressive driving, according to PennDOT.
The rise of digital devices has only increased the dangers.
As far back as 2008, AAA Foundation research concluded that any cell phone use roughly quadruples crash risk, the organization said.
Why is Pa. just doing something now?
It is true that Pennsylvania is late to join the dozens of states that already have handheld device bans. The battle to pass the new law was long and deeply political.
Pennsylvania has had a texting-and-driving ban since 2012, signed into law by Gov. Tom Corbett the previous year.
But a full ban on handheld digital devices took much longer, facing stiff resistance from critics on both sides of the aisle in Harrisburg as well as outside the legislature.
Advocates had to overcome objections, including concerns about personal liberties, racial profiling and unfairly penalizing low-income motorists or drivers with older cars that don't have hands-free technology.
Compromises were necessary to get the bill passed, including reducing the penalty from $100 to $50 and including a provision for local police departments to compile demographic data on drivers pulled over in traffic stops.
Eileen Miller, mother of Paul, fought for the law for over a decade, working closely with lawmakers, including state Sen. Rosemary Brown (R-Monroe County), who spearheaded the bill that was passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Josh Shapiro last year.
“Since day one, I have always believed in this commonsense policy," Brown said in a statement released last week.
"It’s important that drivers remember that the cell phone has become the most consistent, repetitive, and lengthy distraction behind the driver’s wheel, causing significant public safety concerns. This law will change behaviors and save lives."
TUNE IN TO LEARN MORE
Viewers can hear from Miller and Brown about the legislation, and the issue of distracted driving, on Keystone Edition Reports, which will air at 7 p.m. Monday, June 2, on WVIA-TV.
Who was Paul Miller?
Paul Miller Jr. was a Scranton native and a senior at East Stroudsburg University who dreamed of becoming a police officer.
On July 5, 2010, a trucker lost control of his tractor-trailer and crossed the grassy center median on Route 33 in Hamilton Township, Monroe County.
The rig skidded into the northbound lanes, striking the Toyota Miller was driving head-on. Miller, 21, was killed instantly. Several people in a van were also injured.
The truck driver pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in 2013 and served 17 months behind bars.
Eileen Miller vowed from the day her son died that she would fight for a change in the law.
“Nearly 15 years ago, two Dunmore state troopers knocked on my door to tell me that my son was killed,” Miller said in a statement released last week.
"This law is for every family in Pennsylvania that doesn't have to experience two state troopers knocking on their door to tell them that their loved one was killed by distracted driving," she said. "Paul Miller’s Law will be a beacon of protection for every driver and passenger in Pennsylvania.”
FULL COVERAGE FROM WVIA NEWS
'No phone call or text is worth a life': New law puts distracted driving in focus in Pennsylvania
Remembering the man behind the law: Paul Miller Jr. dreamed of becoming a police officer
Tickets for distracted drivers under Pennsylvania's new law will take two years to begin
Shapiro signs Pa. hand-held device ban named for Scranton's Paul Miller
