MINNEAPOLIS - Changes could be on the way after a KARE 11 Investigation into distracted drivers and the failure of investigators to check cell phones in deadly crashes.
Among those changes is a renewed push for a hands-free bill.
They were two heartbreaking crashes with frustrating results in court. Both drivers ran stop signs, killing 11-year-old Brooklyn Larson in September 2016 and 75-year-old John Ploetz in December 2017.
Both drivers received nothing more than a stop sign citation.
And in both cases, investigators failed to check their cell phones for signs of distraction in a timely manner.
"In both these cases, it definitely could be a legislative issue," said Republican State Representative Bob Dettmer.
Dettmer has met with both families, and next legislative session will be looking at ways to prevent the same thing from happening to another family.
"Maybe that's where legislation might come in to be, to give law enforcement better access to phone records and so forth," Dettmer said. "Maybe that can be put in wording into law that cell phone would also have to be checked."
Democratic State Senator Jim Carlson is hesitant to legislate investigative techniques.
"I would say, we hate to tell them how to do their job," Carlson said. "We could pass a law on this but then we'd have to define the thought process that investigators need to go through anyway."
Instead, he will reintroduce the hands-free bill that failed last year. To make it illegal to hold your phone to make calls, text or use apps. He believes that law is a more important first step in reducing distracted driving crashes.
Senator Carlson says he also plans to fight for higher fines for texting while driving.
Representative Dettmer says he will also fight for stiffer consequences if a driver running a stop sign kills someone, like happened in these cases.