I was driving my six-year-old son home from school yesterday when I received a text from a friend. Moments after I picked up my phone to respond, my son from the back of the car says to me, "Dad, I don't want you doing that anymore. You are not supposed to talk or text and drive, Dad, please stop doing it."

YIKES.

He was absolutely right, so I stopped. I admit it, I text and drive sometimes, and I'm not gonna do it anymore. I can't speak for everyone, obviously, but I think Massachusetts forgot about the hands-free law that was passed JUST before Covid hit.

moodboard

YOU MIGHT SAY, WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? WHAT DOES COVID HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT?

If you notice from the screenshot above that the "hands-free" law went into effect on Feb. 23, 2020. I'm not talking about the texting and driving law that's been around for more than a decade, I'm talking about the completely "hands-free" law. Well, not even a month after the new law went into effect, then President Trump declared COVID-19 a national emergency on Mar. 11, 2020.

The coronavirus was spreading and some things had gotten reversed. You know, like all of the sudden the plastic bags were back at Target because single use plastic bags were safer than the ones being brought in from people's homes... or so they thought. It was a very fluid and/or evolving situation.

PEOPLE WERE SCARED, MAYBE EVEN LAW ENFORCEMENT?

Let me preface this by saying I have no factual evidence to back this up, but If I were a betting man, I would say that proactive policing in the early part of the pandemic was sort of "put on hold" so to speak. Right? Like, I don't think that officers were super eager to pull people over for violating the new "hands-free" law while risking getting COVID.

Not to say that the law isn't important, because it is, truly. Distracted driving is major problem in this country. But, you know what I mean.

Listening to our own radio show just the other day, I heard a public service announcement warning Massachusetts drivers that officers are cracking down on distracted drivers violating the "hands free" law. You've been warned!

LOOK: What major laws were passed the year you were born?

Data for this list was acquired from trusted online sources and news outlets. Read on to discover what major law was passed the year you were born and learn its name, the vote count (where relevant), and its impact and significance.

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