Assemblyman Proposes New Limits On Cellphone Use While Driving

SACRAMENTO (CBs13) — A new assembly bill is allowing drivers to use their cell phones while they're on the road, as long as they have it on a dashboard holder.

The most recent cellphone law in California passed in 2008, and it made texting while driving illegal.

But technology has shifted dramatically over the years, leaving a blurry line for other cell-phone related activities behind the wheel.

Assemblyman Bill Quirk is hoping to take cellphones out of drivers' hands with a new bill he says would help end distracted driving.

"You can touch it or swipe it as you would update your air conditioner or even your radio", says Assemblyman Quirk.

The proposed bill would also allow drivers to accept and end phone calls, only if their cell phone is mounted in their car.

"I think it's actually pretty good, that way you can get directions and look on your phone", says one woman who supports the bill.

But Andrew Peluso was doing just that, about a year ago.

He had his cell phone mounted on his console using it for directions, and it almost cost him his life.

"I was coming around the bend on the freeway, I was looking at my phone and I rear ended someone. I was going 70 miles an hour when I looked up", Peluso recounted.

He thanks his lucky stars he's still alive today and says he'll never use his phone behind the wheel again.

Peluso added that he doesn't multitask very well.

"No one multitasks well while they're driving," says Gail Kelly of the Safety Center in Sacramento.

Kelly says "doing anything that takes your eyes off the road creates a situation where you have inattention blindness -- that means 50-percent of what's going on around you you're not even seeing."

Kelly says it's impossible to fully keep your attention on the road when you're looking away, even if it's just for a second.

Some still believe they can multitask, and are hoping the bill passes, but for people like Peluso, no distraction behind the wheel is worth risking a life.

According to the State Office of Traffic Safety, more than 11,000 people in California were injured or killed in 2015 because of distracted driving.

The bill is still several months away from making to the governor's desk, if it successfully passes through the Senate and the Assembly.