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.