LINCOLN- During a recent trip with Nebraska State Troopers, Gov. Jim Pillen said he watched as a vehicle ahead of his swerved in and out of its lane, before veering into a ditch and then back onto the roadway. Following this, after being asked about legislation that would place tougher bans on cell phone use while driving, Pillen said it's something the state needs to look at.

"I think we do have a problem," Pillen responded, "I think we have to have some serious conversations." According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 28 states, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, currently prohibit the use of hand-held cell phones will driving. Forty-eight states have banned text messaging while driving. Nebraska law currently prohibits the use of reading, writing, or texting on a cell phone while driving, but only considers texting while driving a secondary offense.

For this reason, a driver would have to be stopped for an entirely different offense to receive a ticket for texting while driving. In the past, tougher restrictions on texting while driving have been introduced in the Nebraska Legislature, but have failed. According to data from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, there were 19 fatalities, 1,495 injuries, and 3,060 instances of property damage from crashes related to distracted driving in 2019.

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