Last updated April 12, 2019
A bill to make it illegal to have used cell phones while driving a motor vehicle has been rejected yet again in Louisiana in the United States. This marks the third time that State Representative Austin Badon of New Orleans has brought the motion before the House Transportation Committee, only to find it rejected yet again, despite the same law having been passed in many other states in the US.
“Cell phone use is a huge problem,” Badon told the 13 members of the committee prior to the vote being taken. “It is growing exponentially. You do not have the right to put other people’s lives at risk. We all see it, and we have the power to do something about it, but we choose not to. We know it’s a huge problem. We know there are multiple fatalities, there are multiple accidents and injuries but yet, for some reason, this Legislature has found that we don’t want to do that, even though we know it’s a problem.”
Badon’s speech apparently did not impress the Committee, as it did not impress State Representative Jeff Arnold of Algiers, who made it quite clear that he felt the state did not need yet another law to deal with cell phones, noting that there were more than enough laws on the books to deal with the careful operation of a motor vehicle. The House Transportation Committee ended up voting eight to five against the bill.