John Gordon 35, Julia Davis 58, Linda Doyle 61, Jay and Jean Good, John Sligting 56 and Heather Hurd 26 all lost their lives as a result of distracted drivers. June 17, 2011 Governor Brian Sandoval approved SB 140.

SB 140 is now known as Nevada Revised Statute 484b.165 and has been paraphrased by Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles as: texting, accessing the internet and hand-held cell phone use while driving are against the law. You may talk on a phone using a hands-free device. Exceptions include:

Any person reporting a medical emergency, a safety hazard or criminal activity.

Drivers using a voice-operated navigation system affixed to the vehicle or those riding in autonomous vehicles.

Drivers using citizen band or other two-way radios that have a separate, hand-held microphone and require a license.

Law enforcement officers, firefighters or emergency medical personnel acting within the scope of their employment.

Utility workers responding to an outage or emergency and using devices provided by the company.

Amateur radio operators providing communications services during an emergency or disaster.

The statute also outlines the penalties for violations of the “Cell Phone Law;” the violations are, “$50 for the first offense in seven years, $100 for the second and $250 for the third and subsequent offenses. Fines are subject to doubling if the offense occurs in a work zone. The first offense is not treated as a moving violation for DMV and insurance purposes.

The roll call continues of those that have lost their lives to distracted driving: Eric Okeblom 19, Kelson Vailiancourt 21, Chelsey Murphy and her unborn child…

To learn more about these victims and to obtain information about distracted driving, please visit www.distraction.gov

Until next month, stay safe.