ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- Whether it's applying lipstick, smoking a cigar or fiddling with the GPS, some Minnesota lawmakers want drivers who might be distracted by those activities to face penalties if it results in an accident.
"There are a lot of us who can eat a hamburger while we're driving, there's a few of us who can talk on a cell phone while we're driving, and there might even be some folks who can put on their makeup, comb their hair, shave," said Sen. Michael Jungbauer, the bill's author. "But in a lot of cases, this causes problems."
The bill that passed out of the Senate Transportation Committee on Tuesday wouldn't mean drivers could be stopped for doing things that might cause distraction. But if the driver then crashes and causes major damage or serious injury, it could be a gross misdemeanor. The maximum sentence for a gross misdemeanor in Minnesota is a year in jail and a $3,000 fine.
Jungbauer, R-East Bethel, told committee members the legislation is needed because drivers currently can only be cited for failing to exercise reasonable care if they're speeding. Otherwise they have to be doing something bad enough to qualify as reckless driving.
The activities described during the hearing would land somewhere in between, Jungbauer said. But rather than list specific behaviors that could lead to the penalties, Jungbauer said it would be up to accident investigators to determine whether inattentive driving caused a crash.
"It gets to be a fight over what can people do and what can't they do while they're driving," he said. "It could be different for everybody."
Before the vote, though, some senators expressed concern over the bill, saying it was too vague.
"This opens up everything that happens," said Sen. Dick Day, R-Owatonna. "Everybody will probably have a different opinion."
Committee members amended the bill so it fit better with the state's statutes and definitions, agreeing the bill should provide the penalties for failure to drive with reasonable care rather than for inattentive driving.
Sen. Steve Murphy, DFL-Red Wing and the committee's chairman, said he supports the legislation, especially in cases where it's clear a person's behavior led to the incident. "I believe it would be a very effective tool," he said.
The bill will next be heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
