Toccoa-Stephens County preparing to police HB 673

With the recent passing of House Bill 673, local authorities have begun preparing for policing the new law.

HB 673 is a law that bans drivers from having a phone in their hand or supported by any part of their body.

Toccoa Police Department’s Interim Chief of Police Jimmy Mize told WNEG News about how his department is planning to implement and enforce the new Hands-Free Law.

“With the passing of the distracted driving law, we will start to monitor it the way we enforce seatbelt usage,” Mize said.

Mize continued to explain that his department would issue citation on a case-by-case basis.

“The new law goes into effect on July 1, there will be a grace period; but, we will investigate each case and decide if it was due to distracted driving. We’re not going to just throw this on them (civilians), we’ll make sure everyone knows what’s going on,” added Mize.

Under this new law texting, sending and receiving e-mails, posting on social media, and browsing the internet are all prohibited, but drivers can text if they are using technology that converts voice to text messages.

Watching and recording videos are not allowed except for videos that are used for navigational purposes and continuously running dash cams.

It is also illegal for drivers to have a phone in their hand when they are stopped for a traffic signal or stop sign.

It is only legal to make a hand-held phone call or send a text, e-mail or social media post when the vehicle is lawfully parked.

Drivers are allowed to have a phone in their hand to make emergency calls to report a traffic crash, criminal activity, fire, medical emergency or hazardous road conditions.

Again, Toccoa-Stephens County and the entire state of Georgia will begin enforcing the Hands-Free law on July 1, 2018.