Pa. State Legislature Attempting To Pass Bill Banning Hand-Held Cell Phone Usage While Driving

HARRISBURG (KDKA) -- The state legislature is attempting to pass a bill that would ban hand-held cell phone usage while driving.

This isn't the first time they've attempted to pass a bill like this and it has been lobbied heavily against.

Alexis Summers was a popular cheerleader at Knoch High School when she crashed her car into a tree and died, she was texting at the time.

That happened in 2011 when texting and driving was legal in Pennsylvania. A year later, it was banned.

However, it is still legal to make hand-held calls while driving.

Jay Costa, the ranking Democrat in the Pennsylvania State Senate would like to see the passage of a bipartisan bill in the house that would ban the use of hand-held cell phone while driving.

He's not optimistic.

"I think there's push back from a number of entities that don't want to see that happen," Sen. Costa said. "I think at the end of the day, a lot of folks believe that it should be their individual [decision] to decide how they want to drive and to what degree they want to have distractions."

Costa says cell phone companies have lobbied against previous bills in the house.

This is why Pennsylvania is one of 24 states that don't prohibit hand-held cell phones for all drivers.

According to the National High Traffic Safety Administration, between 2013-2017, there were 227 distracted driver fatal crashes in Pennsylvania. Those included phone usage and wearing headphones.

Drivers in Pennsylvania could drive and talk on their phone but once they cross the border into Ohio or West Virginia, they'd be breaking the law.

Despite the bipartisan efforts to pass a ban in the State House of Representatives, chances of passing appear dim this session.

Meanwhile, distracted driving is becoming a growing and deadly problem on Pennsylvania roads.