While deaths due to distracted driving are tragic, singling out a specific type of distracted driving seems redundant. Michigan is getting closer to becoming the 26th state to pass a hand-held cell phone ban for drivers, but there are pitfalls in the legislation as proposed.

If bills 4250, 4251 and 4252 receive final approval from the House and are subsequently approved by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, passenger vehicle drivers could be fined up to $250 for holding a cell phone in their vehicle starting June 30. This would leave citizens and law enforcement less than a month to adjust.

This legislation punishes the threat of bad driving, rather than the bad driving itself, and should be reconsidered before it’s passed. Otherwise, countless Michiganians will be fined for holding a phone, whether or not their driving is erratic.

While the bills allow for emergency cell phone use, they prohibit sending or receiving a telephone call, sending or reading a text message, viewing or recording a video, and reading or posting to a social media site.

Hands-free technology is permitted.

The bills fail to recognize that there are many things that can distract a driver — eating, fiddling with the radio, even talking with a passenger — and that can already be ticketed if such activity falls into the reckless driving category.

State Rep. Matt Koleszar, D-Plymouth, introduced the bill and applauded its bipartisan support from Michigan legislators.

“The House took an immense step toward making our roads and highways safer for all Michiganders, and I am elated that this bill passed with bipartisan support from my colleagues,” Koleszar said. “The passed legislation was necessary, as distracted driving accounts for about 25% of all fatal crashes in Michigan. That isn’t just a statistic, but it represents real lives lost.”

The House did, however, remove some of the more punitive language from the bills. Originally, repeat offender’s driver’s licenses were to have been suspended for 90 days, but this was dropped.

“The big argument against the license suspension is that if this happens to somebody, not only is their license suspended, (but if) they rely on their car to get to work, it would cost them their job,” Koleszar said after the bill had been amended.

Now, repeat offenders will have to participate in a driving improvement course instead of suspension. Classes are offered online or in-person, for a fee of up to $100, and last “(no) less than 4 hours,” according to the Michigan Department of State website. The course also changes whether or not ticket information can be shared with insurance companies, and if points will be added to a license.

The larger concern with the bill is that it increases the opportunity for interactions between police and motorists. Traffic stops have too frequently escalated to the highly publicized incidents of violence that have occurred over the past three years.

A better bill would penalize cellphone use that results in actual distracted driving, and not the potential a driver will become distracted.