LANSING, Mich. — The Battle Creek City of Commission voted unanimously to ban drivers from handling phones while behind the wheel.
That means starting February 15 police can stop any drivers they see with a phone in their hand.
According to state police data, there were just under 13 thousand crashes involving distracted driving in 2016 and 43 people were killed and over 51 hundred people were hurt in those crashes.
The law will allow exceptions for specific use of a cell phones for things like reporting an emergency.
Drivers can also still use their GPS and talk into a mounted phone as long as they're not physically using it while driving.
Now people caught by police will receive a $100 fine for the first offense, but it doubles to $200 for the second or next offense.
The ordinance goes into effect on Friday.
Michigan currently has a distracted driving law on the books making it illegal to text and drive.
