HELENA - A proposal to address distracted driving on Montana roadways passed the state Senate on Saturday following an emotional floor debate.
Senate Bill 359, which bill sponsor Sen. Sara Novak, D-Anaconda, is calling “Chloe’s Law,” would make Montana the final state to adopt distracted driving laws.
The bill would make holding or using a mobile device while driving illegal and supports using hands-free technology, the Daily Montanan reports. The legislation was motivated by the death of a young woman, Chloe Worl, who was killed by a distracted driver in March 2021.
Novak said on the Senate floor she was the woman’s driver’s education instructor.
“My shock and sadness led to many thoughts about that crash as a teacher,” Novak said. “My mind repeatedly has played out so many times with questions as to if I do enough to teach these kids about defensive driving.”
The bill allows for hands-free devices — including smart watches — as well as earpieces. It sets fines for violations as well, with a first offense garnering a ticket between $75 and $149 for a first violation and jumps up to a minimum fine of $150 on any subsequent offense.
The bill cleared a second reading 33-17 on Saturday.
“This isn’t about throwing a hammer down,” Novak said on the Senate floor. “It’s about doing little things that we can do to keep our roads safer in the state of Montana.”
Connie Worl, who is Chloe’s mother, testified in support of the legislation during the bill’s hearing in the Senate Highways and Transportation Committee on Feb. 26. Chloe, who worked at Barrett Hospital in Dillon, was 25 at the time of her death.
“The driver who killed our daughter crossed the rumble strips, and she was so distracted by whatever was happening on her cell phone, texting, Snapchatting, social media, she drove in Chloe’s lane for the length of a football field,” Connie said. “She had no idea she was in Chloe’s lane. She never hit her brakes. She slammed into our daughter, and she killed her instantly.”
On the Senate floor, the bill received significant debate.
Sen. Jeremy Trebas, R-Great Falls, had multiple issues with the bill. He said it’s a local control issue, that drivers would just change their behavior to hide their phone use and that it would create more pressure on the court system.
“This will have an effect on county courts and their budgets and their workload. So just take that under consideration,” Trebas said on the Senate floor. “Maybe it’s worth it to you. It could be, but just know that that’s what you’re doing. You’re pushing more costs on the counties.”
Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, expressed worry about racial profiling, saying he was voting no on the bill because of that.
Other comments touched on whether or not it would apply to self-driving cars. Novak said that anyone in the driver’s seat would be banned from mobile devices while in operation of the vehicle.
The Montana Department of Transportation was a proponent of the bill, which Novak said she did not expect.
Sen. Derek Harvey, D-Butte, who is a Butte-Silver Bow firefighter, expressed some frustration on the floor regarding accidents caused by distracted driving.
“I respond to these calls,” Harvey said. “I’ve responded to a lot of these calls. I’ve seen these scenes. I’ve dealt with these scenes. I’ve turned around, turned my back on these scenes, and found people videotaping, holding their phone up, driving by the scenes while I just saw what I saw inside of that car. It’s pretty ironic to me.”
Discussion also came up about revenue from the fines, with Sen. Barry Usher, R-Billings, saying on the floor that “this was about money” and that, “they’re just using the heart strings to try and get it.”
Some of the comments heard on the floor alleging ulterior motives got a rebuke from Senate minority leader Pat Flowers, D-Belgrade.
“When we start impugning the intent of a sponsor, I think it’s really disrespectful,” Flowers said. “And I’d ask that we avoid doing that in the future.”
Almost 41,000 people were killed in car crashes in 2023 in the U.S. According to AAA, distracted driving was responsible for 58% of crashes during a study the organization conducted.
“This is personal to me on many levels, and I’m honored, as I said, to carry this,” Novak said on the floor. “And I also feel like it’s a gut punch, as you can see, to carry this. So to say that this is about money or MDT is absolutely disingenuous.”
