Ohio safety director continues distracted driving push

COLUMBUS (AP) — Ohio’s public safety director is urging the state Senate to restore proposed distracted-driving penalties to a pending transportation budget that he says are part of a package of reforms aimed at protecting Ohio roads.

The Ohio House stripped that element of the administration’s Drive Toward a Safer Ohio initiative from the $7 billion transportation bill it sent to the Senate last week, with the intent of reviewing it as part of separate legislation.

Public Safety Director John Born said the initiative’s driver training, driver testing and driver safety elements are intertwined, with fines assessed for distracted driving intended to help subsidize proposed new driver’s education requirements for those who can’t afford them.

All first-time drivers, not just juveniles, would be required to take minimal driver education under the plan.