Interim Joint Committee on Transportation Co-chair Sen. Jimmy Higdon, R-Lebanon, told the committee on Tuesday he plans to file hands-free driving legislation again in 2026. A high-resolution photo can be found here.
FRANKFORT — Kentucky may join its neighbors next year in implementing hands-free driving legislation.
Sen. Jimmy Higdon, R-Lebanon, told the Interim Joint Committee on Transportation on Tuesday he plans to file South Carolina’s version of the hands-free driving bill in 2026. Higdon also serves as co-chair of the committee.
This is not the first time Higdon has sponsored this type of legislation.
“The proposed legislation would close current loopholes by requiring hands-free technology for cellphones be used while driving,” Higdon said, adding he believes this version would address some concerns other lawmakers had about previous drafts of the bill.
Distraction-free driving advocate Alyssa Burns testified in-favor of the legislation alongside Higdon. In 2022, Burns’s daughter Camberleigh was killed when a distracted driver struck their vehicle in Louisville. She was 13 days away from turning 2.
Burns said their vehicle was at a complete stop in a construction zone, and Camberleigh was properly restrained in her car seat when the collision happened. She said the driver of the other vehicle admitted he was distracted.
“We’ll never know her full potential because of a reckless driver, who, by the way, was not prosecuted only because he said he wasn’t paying attention,” Burns said. “He had no drugs in his system. He had no alcohol.”
Higdon told the committee that around 20% of Kentucky’s 814 vehicle collision fatalities in 2023 were caused by distracted driving.
Under Bill Request 238, or the Phone-Down Kentucky Act, drivers would be prohibited from using any part of their body to use a mobile electronic device while driving.
Hidgon said the legislation defines a mobile electronic device as a cell phone, portable computer, GPS, electronic gaming system, or any device used to communicate, display or record digital content. The bill includes exceptions for certain radio communication devices and if a driver needs to report an emergency, accident or safety hazard.
“Kentucky remains to be one of the few states without a comprehensive handheld phone ban, despite rising fatalities,” Higdon said.
BR 238 would require violators pay a $100 fine. Collected fines would be distributed to the traumatic brain injury trust fund, the Kentucky trauma care system fund and the veterans’ program trust fund, Higdon said.
He told the committee he believes reducing fatalities is a “winnable battle.”
“We can with this piece of legislation,” Higdon added.
Sen. Brandon Smith, R-Hazard, said he is “happy to lend his support” to Higdon’s legislation, but would like to see a community service requirement added to the penalty provision.
“I do think that sometimes people make mistakes, but to make them go through and have some part of this where they have to spend some time either working on cases or seeing the results of their actions, maybe the first time we catch somebody, we help them never do this again,” Smith said.
Rep. Anne Gay Donworth, D-Lexington, said she also supports the legislation, but has concerns about an officer being able to catch a violator in the act.
“I would encourage some other opportunities for enforcement,” she said.
Higdon said he believes the legislative process would create an opportunity for Donworth to suggest that change.
The Kentucky General Assembly cannot take action on new legislation until the 2026 legislative session begins on Jan. 6.
A draft of Higdon’s proposed legislation can be found here.