HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — Alabama could be the next state to adopt a hands-free driving law.

Two bills in the state legislature could make Alabama the next state to adopt laws that restrict distracted driving. the house and the Senate currently have their own versions. Both further the restrictions on using a phone while driving. Under existing Alabama law it is illegal to text and drive. Michelle Lunsford lost her 17-year-old daughter Camryn Callaway in 2018 when she was recording a birthday video while driving which is legal due to the current law.

“She hadn’t been texting she actually had been recording a birthday message and I actually heard that message that’s when it happened so actually she wasn’t breaking the texting and driving law that we have here in Alabama,” Lunsford said. “She was doing what Alabama actually allows for her to hold her phone in her hand while she is driving and that is just as destructive, just as deadly.”

Distracted driving has been brought to the legislature since 2019 that’s five years of attempting to put tighter restrictions on distracted driving in the state of Alabama. Now AAA says distracted driving is just as bad as drunk driving.

“If the law is passed it will allow you to still talk on your phone but you have to do so through a hands-free device.,” AAA Spokesperson Clay Ingram. “If the Senate bill is the version that passes for the first year the bill is made into a law violations will be met with written warnings and ticketing will occur the following year.”

If either of the bills pass it would make it illegal to hold your phone while driving. that means no taking photos videos or holding your phone while making a phone call.