Our View: Eyes on the road,hands on the wheel

8 and 4 o’clock.

That’s where they teach young drivers to place their hands on the steering wheel nowadays.

Not on the radio knob, not on the armrest, not holding a taco.

And especially not on your cellphone.

As of yesterday, holding your cellphone in Minnesota while driving is a crime. Sure, it’s a small crime, punishable by a $50 fine (but beware of court surcharges, which can exceed the base fine!). But it’s against the law, and we are grateful.

The new law is a no-brainer, of course. Distracted driving is now a leading cause of car accidents. We’ve dedicated substantial efforts to make cars and roads as safe as possible over the years, and vehicle fatality records show the effort is worth it. But then along came cellphones and texting, and suddenly there’s an uptick in vehicle accident injuries and fatalities.

We are astonished at the number of people who continue to text and drive. Almost as bad are those so engaged in talking on their cellphones they are not paying attention to the road. We’ve even heard of people using their smartphones to take photos, check email, or use other apps while driving.

There is nothing so important that an immediate text is required. Searching your cellphone for a callback number is not important either. And trust us: It won’t be long before lawyers will start holding people accountable with hefty lawsuits when cellphone use results in a car accident.

Be safe. We know holding our cellphones while driving is dumb, but we do it anyway. No excuse: Cops, pull us over. Give us a ticket. Or, better yet, we use the hands-free feature to help avoid dangerous distracted driving.

Now, it’s the law.

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