Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s new Hands-Free Law will keep drivers’ hands off their phones and on the wheel again. This new legislation will protect the lives of Minnesotans every day.

Gov. Walz signed the bill April 12 and it went into effect Aug 1, according to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. Under the new Hands-Free law, there will be a zero tolerance policy for the use of mobile devices. Unless a driver is in an emergency situation, the use of phones while driving is only allowed through Bluetooth, navigation and voice command. 

According to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, the first ticket for violating the Hands-Free law will be $50, and the second ticket will be $275. Though the consequence may seem drastic, distracted driving is a life threatening issue and this is a necessary precaution to protect lives. 

The Hands-Free law couldn’t have been enforced soon enough. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, there are roughly nine deaths and close to 1,000 injuries caused by distracted drivers every day in the United States. Although this law will save lives in the future, something should have been done years ago.

With the massive amounts of Bluetooth and voice command technology, there should be no reason to touch your phone while driving. Even if you own an older car without modern communicative technology, nearly all smartphones on the market have voice command ability; paired with an auxiliary cable, there should be no problem making necessary communication.

Making the decision to use your device is selfish and even puts your own life in danger.  While some might find using Bluetooth to be inconvenient, no text or phone call is more valuable than someone’s life. Picking up your phone while driving might seem harmless, but the brief amount of time spent looking somewhere other than the road is enough time to take an innocent person’s life, or even your own. Your phone call, text or a change in music selection should never take priority over a human being.

With this new driving legislation, our roads and community will be safer and the health of pedestrians and drivers will be improved.