ST. LOUIS — Every state that touches Missouri has some form of distracted driving law. St. Louis' closest neighbor Illinois has a texting and hand-held phone ban.
Wednesday morning, Missouri lawmakers heard from lobbyists and the public about why the state needs detailed distracted driving legislation.
"Missouri has one of the weakest texting and driving laws on the book right now," AAA spokesperson Nick Chabarria tells 5 On Your Side. "Missouri's current law only covers texting and driving and it only applies to drivers under the age of 21."
Chabbaria says AAA was joined by representatives from GM, State Farm, the Nurses Association, the Fraternal Order of Police and others to advocate for a distracted driving law.
AAA compiled data from multiple organizations including the Missouri Highway Patrol and Missouri Department of Transportation on the risks of distracted driving.
According to their report, over 50% of victims in distracted driving cases are innocent passengers, pedestrians and other drivers. Also in their report, 801 people died as a result of distracted driving crashes between 2012 and 2021.
Drivers 5 On Your Side spoke with said distracted driving is an issue on St. Louis area roads and they're hopeful legislation would help curb the issue.
Chabarria says the bills only take phones out of driver's hands, "It's not saying you can't use your phone at all, it just says you can't have it in your hands while you're driving. You can only use it while you are parked away from traffic."
The next hurdle for the set of distracted driving bills is a vote from the Missouri Highways and Transportation Committee.
This isn't the first time distracted driving laws have made it across the desks of Jefferson City politicians. Last year, one made it out of the committee but died on the floor.