A mother whose toddler died in a rear-end collision applauded a bill that cleared the Kentucky Senate Tuesday for “planting a seed” for “better behavior on our roads.”
The measure would expand the state’s no texting while driving laws as a means to reduce distracted driving.
Alyssa Burns, whose daughter Camberleigh died days before her second birthday in a 2022 crash, told the Lantern, “I just hope that this gives Kentuckians the wake up call that there are people who are tired of you infringing on our right to a safe passage from point A to point B. My daughter’s right to life was stolen from her.”
Burns said Kentuckians who are driving with distractions, like cell phones and games, should think about potentially endangering others on the road. “I am imploring people: Why are we waiting for it to be someone you love for us to care?”
A Ford F-350 slammed into the back of the vehicle in which Burns and her daughter were traveling on Interstate 71 in Louisville. Burns’ daughter was buckled into a child seat in the back. Burns and her fiancé who was driving suffered serious injuries. Louisville police determined the pickup driver was “not properly watching the roadway ahead” and listed driver “inattention” as the only contributing factor, reports WHAS. The driver of the pickup was not charged.
Senate Bill 28, or “the Phone-Down Kentucky Act,” says drivers cannot hold a cell phone while driving to send electronic messages, like texts and emails, or watch moving images, like videos and games.
Drivers who violate the legislation could face $100 fines starting in late October. Fines assessed under the legislation will be divided among a traumatic brain injury trust fund, the Kentucky trauma care system fund and a veterans’ program fund.
The Senate approved the bill Tuesday afternoon, with 31 votes in favor and seven Republicans voting against it. The House must now weigh in on the legislation before it can become law.
The Senate Transportation Committee gave unanimous approval to the bill last week.
The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Jimmy Higdon, R-Lebanon, has said the bill is a priority for him to pass in his final legislative session, as he won’t be seeking reelection this year.
“This is about saving lives, plain and simple,” Higdon said in a press release after the Senate passed the legislation. “This bill won’t bring Camberleigh back, and it won’t bring justice to the person responsible for her death, but it is an opportunity for us to honor her, and finally do the right thing by putting the Phone Down Kentucky Act into law.”
Burns testified in favor of the bill before an interim legislative committee last year.
Some lawmakers did have questions on the Senate floor about the bill. Sen. Brandon Smith, R-Hazard, said constituents asked him whether drivers would face an additional fine if police officers pull them over for one infraction, like speeding, and then see a cell phone in the car. Higdon replied that an officer cannot stop a person for violating the bill without having “visually observed” them using their phone behind the wheel. Smith later voted in favor of the bill, but added that he would like to see the bill made clearer later in the legislative process.
Senate Majority Whip Mike Wilson, R-Bowling Green, recalled coming across an accident on his way home where a motorcyclist had been run over by a car. He said the driver of the car had been looking at their phone. Wilson himself has long ridden motorcycles and has heard that most accidents involving motorcycles are not caused by the motorcyclist, but drivers who do not see them.
“I think it’s a matter of safety, and especially looking at my motorcycle clubs, my friends, I agree with them, and they’ve asked for this for a long time, so I’m happy to vote aye,” Wilson said.
One of the senators who voted against the bill, Sen. Gex Williams, R-Verona, explained that he was “sympathetic” to Wilson’s comments and said he sees collision avoidance technology in autonomous vehicles or cars with driver assistance improving in the future. He noted that distracted driving can include moments when a driver isn’t using a phone, but is eating, drinking or talking to another passenger in the car.
Williams said he thinks technology has “the potential to save as many lives as seat belts have saved in the future, because … the collision avoidance braking system — it never rests,” Williams said. “It never is distracted. It’s looking on the road.”