Distracted drivers are more likely to kill or injure a person other than themselves if they get into a car crash. Next year, they may also experience an additional hit to their wallets.
Financial penalties go into effect Jan 1. for drivers convicted of violating a distracted-driving law that took effect in August 2023.
The Siddens Bening hands-free law prohibits drivers from holding mobile phones or touching their screens while operating a vehicle. Drivers are still allowed to use their phones for hands-free calls while on the road and to handle their devices when stopped at red lights.
Missouri legislators outlawed mobile phone use for drivers 21 and younger in 2009. With the passage of the enhanced hands-free law, Missouri became the 49th state to prohibit the practice for all drivers.
“Distracted driving is not just a teen driver problem,” said Jon Nelson, highway safety and traffic engineer for MoDOT and one of the agency’s representatives on the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety. “Drive to the grocery store. Drive to church. Drive your kid to school, and just take a look around. It's people of all ages and all genders that are using their cellphones while they're driving.”
In the new year, police may issue citations that carry a $150 fine for the first offense, $250 for a second offense within two years and higher amounts for additional offenses or for driving while distracted in a work or school zone, if the driver is convicted. Authorities may not stop drivers expressly to enforce the law but can issue tickets if they stop drivers for another offense and observe them breaking the hands-free law.
A persistent danger
Since 2019, there have been 414 deaths caused by automobile crashes involving a distracted driver, according to MoDOT. Fatalities from such crashes numbered 106 in 2023, up from 84 the previous year. Overall, fatalities ticked down from 991 in 2023 to 910 so far this year.
The amount of distracted driving is even higher than records indicate, experts said, because totals depend in part on drivers self-reporting their offense.
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Representatives of groups that advocated for the passage of the hands-free law pointed to evidence that the law has reduced distracted driving even before enforcement kicks in.
A paper by the Massachusetts-based Cambridge Mobile Telematics found that distracted driving dropped by 5% in Missouri between the end of August 2023 and the end of August 2024, based on phone-use data. Five lives were saved, according to the findings. The data firm also found that distracted driving by Missouri drivers has dropped 15% since 2022, the fifth-best improvement among states during that time.
Rates of distracted driving tend to fall when the issue receives more attention in media reports, said Nick Chabarria, public affairs senior specialist with the Missouri chapter of AAA.
“[We] can actually see the effects of real-time phone usage drop,” Chabarria said. “People understand the dangers of it. However, they think everybody else is the issue and they’re safe when they’re doing it. And we know that's simply not the case.”
One threat among many
Distracted driving is just one threat facing pedestrians, cyclists and other drivers, safety advocates said.
A board bill signed by St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones in July created an advisory committee intended to lead Complete Streets, an effort to create safer streets in the city. Jones said in 2022 the city will direct $40 million in federal ARPA dollars to improve St. Louis roadways; she and Board of Aldermen President Megan Green released a plan this month that includes $60 million to improve streets and sidewalks.
“How are we making streets and sidewalks safer for all users? I think we need to be much more cognizant of the Complete Streets process,” said Charles Bryson, policy analyst for Trailnet, a St. Louis nonprofit organization that advocates for safer streets.
Traffic calming measures such as roundabouts, speed humps, speed limit reduction and more and better-marked crosswalks can all improve traffic safety but often encounter opposition, Bryson said.
“We need more community awareness around the fact that you can still drive safely and comfortably in the city of St. Louis while there are traffic-calming measures in place,” he said.
