Starting today, if the police catch you concentrating on your phone while you’re driving, they can pull you over.
“Operation Ghost Rider,” the new initiative from the Michigan State Police along with the Detroit Police Department and several sheriffs’ office to discourage cell phone use while motorists are on the streets, will use law enforcement officers in unmarked cars to spot such distracted drivers. When they clock one, they will call a marked police cars to pull the driver over, according to the Detroit News.
“Under Michigan’s distracted driving law, enacted in 2010, first-time violators are fined $100, while $200 penalties are levied for subsequent offenders.”
The statistics bear out the effects of drivers who try to multitask watching the road and their phones, the Detroit News reported. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, texting drivers are 23 times more likely to be involved in a crash than the average motorist. The Transportation Improvement Association’s preliminary 2022 numbers show there were 57 people killed and 5,905 injured in 15,441 Michigan vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers.
Now, what this law means for people who use their cellphones as part of their jobs, such as Uber and Lyft drivers and freelance delivery drivers—as well as incidents of police brutality that start with traffic stops and generally “driving while Black”—remains to be seen.
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