Police: Virginia law banning use of hand-held devices while driving appears to be working

A Virginia law banning the use of hand-held devices while driving was a good start toward reducing distracted driving crashes, according to traffic safety and law enforcement officials at DriveSmart Virginia’s 11th annual Distracted Driving Summit in Richmond.

The 2021 law bans texting, dialing a phone number or programming directions using GPS while driving in Virginia.

Danny Sharp, retired chief of the Oro Valley Police Department in Arizona, was instrumental in crafting a local ordinance that ultimately became a statewide hand-held phone ban. Virginia’s law was drafted using the Arizona law as a template.

“It has to become socially unacceptable to kill somebody while driving under the influence of electronics as well,” Sharp said in a panel discussion at the summit discussing the public’s shifting attitude toward use of phones.

“The reaction of seeing someone driving down the freeway drinking a beer needs to be the same as seeing someone driving and texting,” Sharp said.

Distracted driving accounts for about 17 percent of all traffic crashes in Virginia, dropping slightly since 2021 when the law was enacted, according to Virginia Crash Facts.

In 2023, 61 fatalities and 7,200 injuries resulted from 21,528 distracted driving crashes.

Virginia Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co. co-sponsored the summit. Insurance companies often view drivers who are cited for using their phones while driving as high-risk, which can lead to higher premiums.

Henrico County Police Lt. Rob Netherland said in the law’s first year, about 900 summonses were issued to local motorists who violated the ban on hand-held devices.

“Now we’re down to about 400, and that’s a good thing,” he said. “The message is getting out there.”