PHOENIX (AP) - Arizona House lawmakers will get to choose between three proposed laws that are designed to deal with distracted driving caused by cell phone use.
House Speaker Rusty Bowers announced after a closed-door meeting of majority Republicans Wednesday that he would allow votes on all three bills. Two are versions of a total cell phone use ban and another just strengthens the state's existing distracted driving law.
Proponents of the cell phone ban point to the death of a police officer in January after a distracted driver lost control on Phoenix-area freeway. Some House Republicans oppose Sen. Kate Brophy McGee's two bills creating an outright ban on cell phone use while driving. They prefer a distracted driving bill backed by Republican Sen. J.D. Mesnard.
