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Enforcing hands-free: How law enforcement are preparing ahead of Aug. 1

The State Patrol says the change will make it a lot easier to tell when someone is breaking the law.

ST PAUL, Minn. — The new hands-free law is going to be a big change for drivers, but the troopers and officers enforcing it say the change will actually make their jobs easier. 

"When [the law] goes into effect August 1, It's clear. It's phone out of the hand," Lt. Gordon Shank with the Minnesota State Patrol said.

Under the current law, holding a phone while doing things like talking on it is legal. That can make it difficult for troopers and police officers to determine whether someone is legally using their phone or using it to do something illegal, like stream video. 

Starting August 1, there will only be two cases in which drivers in Minnesota can legally touch their phones: If they need to call 911 and for one-touch voice activation. 

Shank says it won't be hard for law enforcement to tell when someone is using their phone for one of those reasons. 

"If it's something where [a driver is] dialing a bunch of numbers, or they're texting, or entering in an address ... we're going to continue to [watch] someone driving to see if they're continuing to type while they're driving," Shank said.

The State Patrol says they don't plan to have extra patrols out on the road to enforce the new law, just regularly scheduled troopers hoping to educate people on the change. 

The Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Bloomington police departments all essentially echoed the State Patrol, saying while their regularly scheduled patrols would be educating people on the change, they don't plan to add additional staff to enforce it. 

For more on the new hands-free law and what you can and can't do once it goes into effect, view this KARE 11 explainer or visit the  Office of Traffic Safety's website.

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