How Missouri’s new hands-free law is reducing distracted driving accidents
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – AAA Missouri said the number of distracted driving crashes in the Show-Me State is down following a new law that went into effect in August.
Before August, Missouri had one of the weakest laws in the country for drivers using their cell phones. Since the Siddens-Bening Hands Free Law went into effect, it’s prevented roughly 450 crashes, but stakeholders and the family of the man who the law is named after said their work isn’t done.
“Driving distracted can stop your story in its tracks one way or the other,” Adrienne Siddens said. “The woman driving the car that hit Randall was video chatting, speeding and not paying attention to stopped traffic in front of her.”
Adrienne Siddens has been coming to the Capitol for years, advocating for a law that bans drivers from using their cell phones while driving.
In May of 2019, Adrienne received a phone call no one wants to get. Her husband, Randall, a father of three, was hit by a distracted driver while picking up cones after a triathlon race in Columbia.
“I hope sharing my story serves as a reminder every day and every time you get in the car to buckle up and put your phone down,” Siddens said.
Randall suffered from a brain injury, a failing kidney, internal bleeding, multiple pelvic fractures and other complications. Adrienne and Randall had been married for nine years, had two children under the age of three and were four months pregnant with their third. He died six months after the accident took place.
Since then, Adrienne has been advocating for a law to ban drivers from using their cell phones while behind the wheel. Randall is now one of the two men Missouri’s new hands-free law is named after. The Siddens-Bening Hands-Free Law took effect in August, prohibiting drivers from holding their phones to text or call while behind the wheel.
“It feels like we crossed the finish line so it’s exciting we have something, but I don’t think I’m done,” Siddens said. “I think it’s less involved being in (the statehouse) and more about reaching the general public.”
Tuesday, just eight months after the law went into effect, advocates gathered at the Missouri State Capitol for Distracted Driving Awareness Month, highlighting the positive impact of the new law.
“If I go back to the early 90s, distracted driving was usually listed as eating, putting on makeup, getting an 8-track tape out of the glove box,” Captain Dusty Hoffman with the Missouri State Highway Patrol said Tuesday. “Now, we’ve gone from that to having all that information in the world at the tip of our finger.”
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According to AAA, nearly 60% of Missouri drivers still don’t know about the hands-free law. The Missouri Department of Transportation said their trucks continue to be impacted by drivers not paying attention.
“Last year, we had 63 of those trucks hit and we have cameras on the back of those trucks and people never even saw; you can even see people in the videos doing this with their phone as they are hitting those trucks going 60 miles per hour,” MoDOT Deputy Director Ed Hassinger said.
Violating the hands-free law is a secondary violation, similar to the seat belt law, meaning law enforcement can only write a citation after pulling the driver over for something else. The law does allow drivers to use a hands-free option like headphones, Bluetooth or voice to text.
“Once you’re out there, you see a big truck out there, it’s not just a truck, it’s a person that’s sitting in the truck,” MoDOT maintenance worker Brian Rickmann said.
Even though the law went into effect in August, only warnings will be written through the end of the year, and starting in January 2025, a first-time violation will result in a $150 fine.
“I’m kind of excited for people to start grumbling about getting tickets for this to spawn a more positive conversation about it,” Siddens said.
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