OHIO, USA — In January 2015, Kathleen Strack lost her brother, Mark Sevilla, to distracted driving.
"It was devastating, and it's never been the same. It's always that empty chair at holidays, special events you want to share with him, you know, all because somebody had to read a text."
Now, she joins law enforcement, hoping that stronger distracted driving laws will change that.
When Ohio's distracted driving law took effect on April 4, 2023, the Ohio State Highway Patrol and local law enforcement issued warnings for six months for violations as part of the effort to educate and help motorists adapt to the new law.
Beginning Thursday, law enforcement will start issuing citations for violating this law.
Penalties include:
- 1st offense in two years: 2 points assessed to driver's license, up to a $150 fine.
- 2nd offense in two years: 3 points assessed to license, up to a $250 fine.
- 3rd or more offense in two years: 4 points assessed to license, up to a $500 fine, possible 90-day suspension of driver's license.
- Fines are doubled if the violation occurs in a work zone.
There are some exceptions. Drivers over 18 years old can make or receive calls on speakerphone or with an earpiece, wireless headset or electronic watch.
"It needs to be hands-free, or it has to be all the way up to your ear," said Sgt. Ross, with Ohio State High Patrol. "If you look at year-to-date from last year, 2022 to this year, we've seen about a 19% reduction in our serious injury and fatal crashes that are distracted driving related. It's very encouraging. We don't want to stop there. We don't want to settle there. We want to continue to mitigate to drop that number and reduce it."
In most cases, anything more than a single touch or swipe is illegal. Under Ohio's hands-free driving law, you can get pulled over and fined for dialing a phone number, sending a text message, updating and browsing social media, video calls and watching videos.
"No money is going to bring Mark back, no fine is going to stop it completely. What we're out to do is to see people realize how dangerous distracted driving is," Strack said.