Governor Nathan Deal signed House Bill 673 Wednesday afternoon in Statesboro making Georgia the sixteenth state in the nation to enact a law banning drivers from having a cellphone in their hand while driving.
The law will take effect on July 1 of this year and drivers will no longer be allowed to have a phone in their hand or supported by any part of their body.
“It’s second nature to pick up our phones when we are behind the wheel but if you have it in your hand when driving after July 1, you run the risk of getting a ticket,” Harris Blackwood, Director of the Governor’s Office of Highway said. “While we encourage everyone to stay off their phones, we recommend drivers to implement now whatever they will need in order to place and receive calls without having the phone in their hands or on their bodies.”
After July 1, law enforcement officers can and will issue citations in crashes caused by distracted driving and to drivers they feel should be issued a citation for the violation the officer observed.
