House passes compromise distracted-driving bill preserving limited single‑touch phone use

The Utah House on Feb. 27 passed Second Substitute H.B. 63, a distracted‑driving measure that preserves limited single‑touch phone use and voice‑activated functions while retaining prohibitions on manual dialing and texting. Representative Andrade, the bill sponsor, described the text as a negotiated compromise with the Senate sponsor and affected families.

"We think we've struck a compromise such that it still will allow for a single touch answer, but it is under the situations that the handheld device is being used hands free," Andrade said on the floor, pointing to lines 56–63 in the substitute as the bill's core language.

Supporters argued the change balances safety and practicality as vehicles and communications move toward hands‑free systems; opponents pressed for clarity on penalties and scope, and one member reserved a floor amendment to add explicit exemptions for amateur and two‑way radios. Sponsor Andrade and legislative counsel explained the bill returns to the original statute’s approach for certain exclusions and that single‑touch answering, voice initiation and hang‑up are specifically preserved while dialing and texting remain prohibited.

The House substituted the first for the second substitute and then voted. The clerk announced the tally: 65 yeas, 7 nays. With passage, the bill will be transmitted to the Utah Senate for further consideration.

Procedural note: Representative Lifferth proposed, then withdrew, a brief amendment intended to list ham radio and other two‑way communications as explicit exemptions after members questioned whether the existing statute already covered them.