May 25, 2016
What You Should Know About Distracted Driving Laws in Kansas & Missouri
Distracted driving costs eight people their lives daily in the United States. Driving distractions such as cell phones, radios, and even food and drink cause fatal accidents and cause motorists to get in trouble with the law. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are three different forms of distracted driving. The main types of distraction include Visual, Manual, and Cognitive.
Types of Distracted Driving
Visual means you’ve taken your eyes off the road for some reason. Manual means you’ve taken your hands off the road to pick something up, turn the station on your radio or answer your phone. Cognitive doesn’t involve physical distractions. It involves mentally removing your focus from driving and the road ahead of you.
Distracted Driving Laws
In an attempt to discourage driving while distracted, the following distracted driving laws are enforced in Kansas and Missouri. By having rules in place, law enforcement hopes to prevent accidents and fatalities from happening because of other people’s carelessness. Although some people believe that distracted driving laws are universal from state-to-state, that isn’t true.
Kansas has no cell phone prohibition for motorists unless they are new drivers and inexperienced at driving. There are no-texting distracted driving laws that are enforced throughout the state. They prohibit the writing, sending or reading a written communication while operating a motor vehicle. Exceptions are made for EMS and law enforcement acting in course of the law, a person receiving an emergency alert, and motor vehicles stopped off the main part of the roadway. Tickets for distracted driving laws violations start at $60.
Novice and commercial drivers cannot use a cell phone while driving in Missouri. All other drivers are exempt from this law and permitted to make and receive calls while driving. Only novice drivers are not permitted to send and receive texts while driving according to distracted driving laws in the state of Missouri. Everyone else can compose, send, receive, and read text messages as operators of motor vehicles. There are no additional distracted driving laws in effect.