USE OF ELECTRONIC DEVICE, DRIVING                                     H.B. 4277 (S-1)-4279 (H-3):
                                                                                                                                                                                SUMMARY OF BILL
                                                                                                                                                REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
House Bill 4277 (Substitute S-1 as reported)  
House Bill 4278 (Substitute H-3 as reported without amendment)
House Bill 4279 (Substitute H-3 as reported without amendment)
Sponsor: Representative Mari Manoogian (H.B. 4277)
                          Representative Mike Mueller (H.B. 4278)
                          Representative Joseph N. Bellino, Jr. (H.B. 4279)
House Committee: Judiciary
Senate Committee: Judiciary and Public Safety
 
CONTENT
 
House Bill 4277 (S-1)  would amend Section 602b of the Michigan Vehicle Code to do the following:
 
 --     Modify provisions prohibiting an individual from texting on a cell phone while operating a motor vehicle to prohibit an individual from using a mobile electronic device while operating a motor vehicle or school bus.
 --     Specify that the prohibition would not apply beginning five years after the bill's effective date.
 --     Prescribe situations under which the prohibition described above would not apply, including use of a mobile electronic device for emergency purposes.
 --     Specify that the prohibition would not apply to the use of a mobile electronic device in a voice-operated or hands-free mode if the operator of the motor vehicle did not use his or her hands to operate the device except under specified circumstances.
 --     Prohibit an individual from operating a motor vehicle or school bus while accessing, reading, or posting to a social networking site.  
 --     Prohibit an individual from operating a motor vehicle or school bus while viewing, recording, or transmitting a video on a mobile electronic device unless it was being used for the sole purpose of continuously recording or broadcasting video inside or outside of a motor vehicle or school bus.  
 --     Modify penalties for a violation of Section 602b.
 --     Allow a court to suspend an individual's driver license for up to 90 days if he or she were responsible for three or more civil infractions under Section 602b within a three-year period.
 --     Allow a law enforcement officer enforcing Section 602b to treat a violation as the primary or sole reason for issuing a citation to a driver.
 
House Bill 4278 (H-3)  would amend the Code to prescribe the number of points assigned to a person's driving record for a second or subsequent violation of Section 602b.
 
House Bill 4279 (H-3)  would amend Section 602c of the Code to do the following:
 
 --     Increase, from $200 to $250, the civil fine that could be ordered for a second or subsequent offense of Section 602b.
 --     Require the Department of State Police (MSP) to submit, forty-two months after the bill's effective date, a report to the Governor and the Legislature that included specified information related to violations of Sections 602b and 602c.  
 
The bills are tie-barred. Each bill would take effect 180 days after its enactment.
 
MCL  257.602b (H.B. 4277)