This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2007, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Utahns won't be able to drive faster legally, and they will not get a ticket for careless driving for tending to their makeup, fiddling with a cell phone or coping with a list of other distractions, thanks to House action on Wednesday. Representatives unanimously rejected a bill that, when it previously passed the Senate, would have raised speed limits to 70 and 80 miles per hour. In the Senate-passed form, it also would have allowed officers to cite drivers who had an accident because they were distracted by eating, drinking, smoking, physically attending to a passenger, searching for an item in the vehicle or attending to personal hygiene or grooming. But House members criticized the faster speed limits as being unsafe and the careless driving provisions as intrusive. "I think we are overdoing it here, representatives," said Rep. Kerry W. Gibson, R-Ogden. - Judy Fahys
SB17
Would have hiked speed limit and created distracted driving offense.
Next step: Goes back to Senate after gutted by House.
Driving bill
