The Internet has created a perverse incentive that values interactivity over quality, and virality over accuracy. Comedian Stephen Colbert predicted this when he created the concept of “truthiness,” which is something that sounds or feels true even if it isn’t. Because social media is now the default news source for millions of Americans, this paradigm has crossed over into real life. I mean, there are people out here saying wild things on the web, like “the Mariners are winning the 2025 World Series.” That’s so demented as to be almost offensive.
Slightly milder but more persuasive is a series of viral Instagram reels and TikToks claiming that on June 5th, a bunch of laws banning the touching of cell phones while driving went into effect for drivers. These are called “No Touch” laws, according to these posts, and they contend that merely touching a phone while driving in any of a number of states will result in fines between $50 and $400.
You’ll be shocked to learn that this isn’t true. It’s also not entirely false. Like a bucket of movie popcorn, there’s a hard kernel of truth buried under a lot of buttery fluff. The idea that a bunch of legislatures in 30+ states got together to all pass a law over cellphones that would all begin on the same date is absurd, but that didn’t stop a lot of people from liking, sharing, and producing these videos.
What The Internet Is Claiming
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This video comes courtesy of an Instagram account with just 1,000 followers that makes personalized “wine glasses, tumblers, hoodies…” in Georgia. That’s not a great source of accurate information on changes to the automotive legal code, but it already has over 12,000 likes and 500,000 views. That video is actually just a remix of this one, from some random guy, and that version has 1.3 million views so far.
@realmelissasimo How do new laws just sneak in like that?!
The original actually comes from TikTok influencer Melissa Simonson, who normally tests beauty and home products. Her original has over 8 million views (compared to 818 views for the post before it and 1,225 views for the post after it), and in the video, she claims any sort of phone-touching will get you a ticket. Here’s the list of states according to Simonson:
This keeps spreading. Here’s someone with more than 400,000 views complaining that it’s unconstitutional:
@xitirayi But forget everything else going on in the world right now cause this is what’s important #xitirayi #fyp #viral #1stamendment #firstamendment #notouchlaw
Here’s another influencer’s post that shows slightly more details:
@_d_e_v_0_ #greenscreen recent no touch law that was passed in the listed states. Get in the know before you HAVE to know you feel me?
That specific TikTok seems to get its data from this post by a “humorist” on Medium, and it’s possible this is the original source for viral influencers of this information. Unfortunately, it seems like few people read the first paragraph of the post, which states:
No-touch laws are not new. Thirty states already had them when Pennsylvania joined them today, June 05, 2025. The laws make it illegal to touch your phone or to even drive with it on your lap.
You can probably see how this game of telephone got started.
The Actual Law That Went Into Effect On June 5th
If you’re a resident of Pennsylvania, this information is probably most relevant to you because on June 5th, a new restriction called “Paul Miller’s Law” was signed by Governor Josh Shapiro and therefore put into law. While nowhere in the actual bill do I see the words “no touch” used, the rules are consistent with what most other states have. Specifically, using a cell phone outside of an emergency is prohibited by state law in 31 states, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association.
The nuance that’s been lost by people on the web is that a new law in 30+ states wasn’t passed and signed into law all at once. Instead, there are 31 states that already had pre-existing laws on the books, many for years, and Pennsylvania just happened to be the 32nd state to join.
The law itself exists for a good reason, according to the PA DOT:
The law is named for Paul Miller, Jr., who was tragically killed in a crash with a tractor trailer in 2010 in Monroe County, as the result of a distracted driver who reached for their phone while driving. Since his death, Paul’s mother Eileen Miller has become a national advocate for stronger laws to curb distracted driving.
“Nearly 15 years ago, two Dunmore state troopers knocked on my door to tell me that my son was killed,” said Eileen Miller, Paul Miller, Jr.’s mother. “My son did everything right – he was killed by someone else’s unsafe choices behind the wheel. This law is for every family in Pennsylvania that doesn’t have to experience two state troopers knocking on their door to tell them that their loved one was killed by distracted driving. Paul Miller’s Law will be a beacon of protection for every driver and passenger in Pennsylvania.”
Paul Miller’s Law will also work to prevent bias in policing by requiring law enforcement to collect data on drivers pulled over during traffic stops, including race, ethnicity, and gender. The data will be made publicly available in an annual report.
Using your cell phone while driving is bad, as a cell phone isn’t designed for that. Instead, most people with modern cars plug their phones in and use CarPlay or Android Auto to answer texts or make phone calls, which is slightly better. That’s what I do on my newer Honda. On my older BMW, which has no large screens, I have a dock for my phone and use that for navigation, et cetera. That technically puts me at risk of a ticket both in Pennsylvania and in New York, where I live. While I try to touch my phone as little as possible when driving (and have an aftermarket system that allows me to control a lot of features from the steering wheel), it still does happen.
In fact, New York State Troopers handed out almost 23,000 tickets in one week for this in April, so I’m either discreet or lucky.
Either way, the reality is that these laws are not new for anyone outside of Pennsylvania, but the general substance of the law is good, no matter which state you live in, because distracted driving causes way too many accidents already.
Top graphic images: TikTok; depositphotos.com
Wow. I really had to pay attention to this one, as a PA resident who watches the local news, and was aware of the laws effective date. The headline had me thinking maybe that law didn’t actually happen. I was totally unaware of the social media brouhaha.
Metoo
I now have a portable telephone, it has been useful already, I used it to call the AA. The car had failed to proceed (badly, the gearbox sort of ate itself), the nice lady I rang was very confused, apparently map references are not a thing these days.
Someone suggested that I get a smart phone, I do not have a smart car, why would I need a smart phone?.
Seriously, I have a refurbished Nokia thing, it works, and it has a thing like an answer machine so I do not have to jump when it rings,people can just leave a message and when I am home and comfortable I can ring them back.
I just don’t understand who would want to watch any of this shit even if the information was good.
Well we lost reliability of MSM because of lies so know human nature leads us to search out and accept what we believe. It is not reliable but there is no reliable anymore since the MSM has proven to lie and is still doing so
I think you’re lying.
When I was a kid, a woman hit a power pole across from my house while fiddling with the cassette deck in her car.
They should ban cassette decks in cars.
There are always distractions while driving. Maybe make the penalty for a distracted driving crash more severe. Be it cell phone, eating, picking your nose, whatever.
I know someone who mouthed off to a New York cop while getting a ticket. The cop came back with the ticket, and another ticket for using a cell phone while driving. He didn’t even have a phone with him. That’s the problem with these laws.
Would your opinion be different if she had hit you instead of the telephone pole?
No it’s the problem with COPS. Cell phone calls are easily proven.
I use ‘Do not disturb’ on when I drive. Only my wife, kids, and parents call get through by calling. Apple calls it ‘Focus’ now.
It does take a little time to set up who is on the list of numbers that will be allowed through. I set it up some years ago, and have never actually had anyone call me for an emergency while I was driving (thankfully), but I think that the callers on that list marked as ’emergency; can get through, or if the same number called you back immediately, you will get a notification of some sort, although I don’t know what it says, as thankfully, this has never happened.
Frankly do not disturb should be forced option when driving blu tooth or not
My ’64 Corvair has the handsfree Apple Ashtray, a 3d printed insert to hold my smartphone.
General rule of thumb: Any law named after a person is at best an ineffective election-year gambit and at worst a power-grab that won’t save a single life.
See also: “Waving the bloody shirt“
Perfect it is illegal to have a cell phone signal blocker but okay to make calls illegal. Cars should come equipped with signal blockers that turn on when car is on gear.
Hey now, there’s a chance for the Mariners! Technically speaking! We even made the playoffs once in the last quarter century!
I went to my first ever Mariners game on Friday and they won, so based on my sample size they are clearly going to win the whole thing.
Social media is a scourge
Except here. It’s all good in the comments.
As always, great top shot! The quality that the Autopian team strives for is not lost on me, clipping the Absolute Up To Date scroll of The Autopian into that “relieved stock photo guy”‘s phone is great.
I can imagine a lot of younger folks who are absolutely MORTIFIED by any restriction on phone use whatsoever.
“Dude, you’re cramping my life!”
Aww, why drag my Mariners into this?
Mariners are out here catching strays at The Autopian of all places
It’s ironic that these people who get their information from tiktok are absolutely the most likely to be endlessly scrolling behind the wheel.
I see it all the time. It doesn’t take super surveillance systems to see someone staring down towards their lap behind the wheel. It’s obvious from every angle and in their mirrors – if they are even subtle enough to hold the phone down below the window.
I still see people holding their phone horizontally like a serving tray shouting into the bottom. I assume they are using speaker phone, which they believe counts as being hands-free.
I call that “Real Housewives phone pose” Literally, reality shows have their actors do speaker calls because it’s easier to film drama that way, and then the general public started doing it.
I am not at all shocked to learn its origin.
I just ran a few errands locally and on the way back the Kia Telluride coming towards me at ~40mph in a 25mph zone (narrow 2-way street that very often has kids on bikes or dog walkers) was operated by an early middle-aged milf with a pony tail (always have to look like you’re on your way too / from the gym if you’re going to wear yoga pants all day) staring down at her phone.
Really? I don’t think I’ve watched a second of reality TV since Who Wants to be a Millionaire, and I do it too if I’m on speaker. If the mic is at the bottom of the phone, why would you NOT talk into it? Seems logical to me if you want your voice to be clear and not echo-y.
Edit: I do not do this while driving. But if I’m on a call for work and have internet issues and have to dial in, I definitely point the phone at my mouth.
Perhaps… I never do speaker calls, but I also so rarely use my phone to make phone calls. This could absolutely be an example of “100% of people who can’t understand the difference between causation and correlation end up dead.”
I’ve always used the speaker unless it’s a sitch where it would be not really feasible. Aside from my tinnitus, I just don’t want to hold electronics against my skull. Even my headphones (used only on an airplane) are over-the-ear ones, and that still feels sketchy.
As someone who values facts, data, truth, and transparency as core fundamental values and has built a career out of those values, “truth decay” in all manners, including videos like these, is just absolutely maddening to me. While I love the internet and I have to thank it for a lot of good things in my life, I despise the fact that it has given a megaphone to liars and that many people are falling for it.
I’m part of the Californians for Classic Car Smog Check Exemptions Facebook group which has closely been watching and pushing “Leno’s Law” and keeping everyone up to date with the latest status as the bill works it way through the government. We’re constantly having to address completely false Youtube videos about the bill saying it has already passed. Lots of people are getting the wrong impression due to those videos.
Wait, Leno’s Law isn’t about making it illegal to swan dive down an embankment behind a budget hotel after sunset? Huh.
I’ve noticed a disturbing trend lately where I live. I see a large number of tony women openly holding their phone serving dish style while driving. I very much get an above the law attitude from them. Like rules are for lesser people. They roll stop signs too… Sigh.
I see this a LOT in SW Florida. I just assume that they’re too damn stupid to figure out how Bluetooth works.
Exactly, it’s really perplexing when I see them doing it in new cars that I know have good bluetooth systems.
It indeed could be that, but somehow it feels more like they are not unable to learn how, but more unwilling to expend the effort.
I remember when social media was all just farms, and emo playlists, but mostly farms.
It does bug me that this kind of junk has infiltrated actual news sites, like I want to click on a story about a local event happening and when you get to the bottom, “what this doctor says you should stop doing right now”, or “remember this actress, you won’t believe what she looks like now”. I mean I’m gonna click on some of that but make sure my anti-virus and ad blocker are on before I do.
I was watched a guy cross an 8 lane road today without ever looking up from his phone. Not sure what he was doing (probably reading the Autopian) but it must have been worth risking his life.
It’s not his life I would care about, but those around him. Let him die to make that FB post or whatever but leave the rest of us out of it.
I have literally pulled over (slightly aggressively) to read a fresh Torch Tail light article, so I get it!
A few years back I was walking down Park Avenue. A woman was staring at her phone, walked off the curb mid-block and into traffic, without a worry in this world.
A yellow cab slammed on the brakes and stopped no more than 3″ from her knees. I don’t know what kind of composure the cabbie had, but if I were him I’d have unloaded my entire vocabulary of impolite words on her.
Granted she probably wouldn’t have been killed as Midtown traffic wasn’t that fast, but still.
It was a little over a decade ago when I read that “For the first time in history, more Millennials [at the time, this was still the under-30 crowd] go to social media for information about news stories and companies before — or instead of — going to actual news or corporate websites.”
I didn’t believe it, so I asked around the office…and it was anecdotally true. It sounds pretty minor, but that feels like the point where were collectively decided to take over our grasp of reality and move it from 50-100 diverse sources to just one or two. That’s a concentration of power I don’t like.
Despite having a valid need to use FB (school news, buy/sell, community stuff) I still refuse to take part in any of it. If Zuck, Trump, and Musk all dropped dead tomorrow, my only concern would be a short-term fear over who fills the information vacuum and for what reason. We are now a third-world country, but not for any direct military or political reasons. And that’s why AI concerns me so much…an amazing tool that wields unfathomable power if the situation ever presents itself.
I like Facebook because it shows me a lot of Lord of the Rings memes, but I try to never do anything serious with it (except for LotR memes, which are, in fact, deadly serious).
GROND! (For those who know, either a laugh or exasperated sigh)
I quit all socials in January and wish I had done so years ago. There’s so little of value on there. I have some snow tires I want to sell later this year and I’m really angry that I may have to spin up a Zuck account to sell them.
I have never had an Instagram or Tik Tok and quit Facebook in 2020. At that time I’d gotten sober after many years as a barely functional alcoholic. As a result I had clarity I wasn’t used to but was also flooded by all of the trauma and stressors that I’d been suppressing with binge drinking and drug use for the prior decade.
It became apparent quickly that my over utilization of Facebook was causing me way, way more harm than good. This was back when the far right were in the process of taking it over completely and I was getting dragged into useless arguments with people I didn’t know who were immune to the truth. It was such an unnecessary drain on my emotional well being.
Anyway I’ve literally never missed it. I still have messenger because it’s my only means of contact with certain people but I’m about to get rid of that too. I have Snapchat, which I use to send videos of neighborhood cats to the 3 or 4 people I know who still use that silly app. I have a YouTube profile but have never made a video and just follow channels with content that I like.
Even that is becoming enshittified by end stage capitalism/our tech oligarchs but I’m not ready to give it up yet. Anyway…that’s the right amount of social media for me. Tik Tok in particular is an absolute cesspool of misinformation that’s literally broken the brains of large swaths of Gen Z. Watching them slowly becoming Boomers 2 because of all short form misinformation content that’s frying their dopamine receptors has been uniquely depressing.
I keep seeing them described as “puriteens” due to their widespread embrace of ultra conservative social and political ideals. They’re not all like that of course, but the trends are really concerning. We’ve spent the last hundred plus years fighting for progress, liberation, equality, etc. and now there’s a massive chunk of a young generation that wants to return to the 1950s because they’re being thrown a bunch of shit on Tik Tok and Instagram glamorizing it.
This is not happening in any other first world countries that aren’t authoritarian, but then again we’re not a first world country anymore.
This random stranger on the internet is proud of your sobriety and focus on mental health.
TikTok is the worst, and it infiltrated everything… so many reposts on FB/Insta. Every time I hear one of the apparently five songs everybody uses on their videos, I start twitching.
No one on this wonderful site is a stranger! Thank you, internet friendo!
I’ll second the congratulations on the sobriety. Well done!
Why thank you, internet friendo!
I use Facebook for what it’s good for… browsing for used Miata parts and being reminded of the birthdays of people who aren’t quite important enough to me to memorize them. YouTube is used for binging episodes of Time Team and the occasional music video. All the other social media stuff can fuck right off. Good on you for getting away from the social media sewer when you did.
The FB marketplace is the ONLY reason I have an account and I only go on there specifically to hunt from something I am actively needing or am selling. Its a pain even then. Its a cesspool and is built to grab your attention and maximize screen time, nothing else, definitely NOT to give you good, real information.
Michigan’s went into effect like two years ago, and has seemingly only had the result of reminding people they own phones that they should use, with their hands, while driving.
Yup, I see it at every single intersection every time I drive here in MI, people on their phones paying zero attention to the road. Sigh
We really really gotta figure out how to stop people taking as gospel some rando yapping at a cell phone camera. Too many people take something @random-jabroni123456789 as a reliable source when he’s just some guy.
I just saw on TikTok there’s a new law that will stop this.
– Random Guy
But I just saw a Reel confirming that the TikTok vid you saw is fake, but because of aliens.
-Musk, probably.
I absolutely hate seeing “news” stories where the top shot is some random person’s face on a TikTok video spewing inane nonsense. Random person taking a video of themselves in their bathroom is supposedly an expert worthy of a news article, these days. I guess I just wasn’t made for these times (RIP Brian Wilson)
Combo of trends it’s some random shirtless person telling you.
Yeah, but can Lester Holt “spit on that thang”? I think not.
(PS, do NOT read the Hawk Tuah Girl’s Wikipedia entry. You’ll literally lose the will to live)
One teensy problem: neither of my cars have screens because both are pre rear-view mandate and trying to retrofit them with an Android Auto (or whatever) screen positions it worse than where my phone sits. Although I’m good with punching in GPS stuff before driving or parked in a parking lot, the occasional phone touch is to change the radio (been using the same app for years so it’s muscle memory at this point) which can’t be done with any button in either vehicle.
But ramble aside, this is one of the biggest reasons I hate social media in recent years.
In more realistic fake news, can we please pass a law that forces all cell phones to go back to being unlocked using a fingerprint instead of your face? Nothing stupider than making me look at something that’s already a distraction, whether I’m driving, stopped, or even just talking to someone.
Let’s just accept that people are going to do certain activities, no matter how many laws we might want, and then let’s figure out how to make that activity safer for everyone. That goes for in-car screens, too. Oh, so you sold me a car with 50 pieces of information being thrown at me, and you want to make Tim Apple the bad guy?
Even worse it that it seems like the face recognition NEVER works when I am in the car forcing me to have to use the keypad on the rare occasions where I am trying to do something (usually checking traffic when I get stuck in something).
I still use a passcode; refuse to set up Face ID.
Still requires you to look at the phone 🙂
That was my concern. Facial recognition is valid, too, I was just talking ergonomics.
Rarely- have it set to stay unlocked for an hour before requiring again.
Real Men of Genius! (and regular recharging)
Just get an Android already, lol. You can actually, ya know, customize them.
The bonus is when Apple people ask you to help them figure out something on their phone you can just shrug, say “I have an Android” and they’ll leave you alone.
Try explaining Stremio to them, lol
These laws ARE idiotic. I can’t so much as touch my phone (technically), yet I can farf around to my heart’s content with the giant screen attached to the car (that is very much the case as the laws as-written in my state)? Distracted driving is distracted driving, HOW you are being distracted should not matter at all. But like speeding, this is “easy”.
That aspect of the law is frustrating as hell. I use my phone to listen to music or podcasts while driving. In my truck, it takes several steps requiring my full attention to change what I am listening to using the truck’s touch screen. It takes almost zero effort and maybe two seconds to make the same change directly on my iphone. Yet only the easy, conscious-thought free method is illegal (I usually only make changes when I am stopped, even if the distracting method is technically legal while driving). I agree with the intent of these laws, but they seem to have unintended consequences in addition to ignoring all other forms of distraction.
As an aside, I once got pulled over in Georgia for violating their hands-free law. At the time, I was stopped at a railroad crossing where a (at least by my estimate) million car freight train was crossing very slowly. I literally had my car in park for at least 10 minutes before touching my phone (I’m not even sure the car was even on at that point). Yet the officer that saw me pick up my phone still felt the need to pull me over. At least he gave me a warning, I guess?
They were bored too and just wanted someone to harass I mean talk to?
Colorado’s new law only covers use in moving vehicles
It’s only useful if there’s enforcement
And some times the substitute for widespread enforcement is severe punishment. Just the fear of losing the ability to own a phone for a year, even if only 1 offender is caught out of a million, would probably strike fear into Gen Z.
Oh, it’s enforced. Especially if the cop doesn’t like the look of you and/or your car.
As a middle-aged brown but pass for well-tanned golf duffer dude in a very respectable Mercedes station wagon, I bet I can drive right by a cop fondling my phone in full view and he won’t take a bit of notice. But what if I am a young, Hispanic/black kid in a sporty little number with the stereo banging? Yeah, in too many cases he’s going to be looking for a little probable cause. And these laws give it to them.
I got hassled a TON by the cops when I was a teenager, it was like a sport for them. Thankfully I got away with mostly warnings, a few tickets, and only got hauled in once in handcuffs (oddly, that was the time I was doing nothing wrong at all). No apologies, nothing, just a fear and distrust of police. But it gave me a lot of empathy for what other people have to deal with their whole lives. It was like an “accidental scared straight” program that I was fortunate enough to outgrow (not equating the two entirely, just acknowledging that profiling will never really go away). I have a strong suspicion that these kinds of laws will quickly become very popular “secondary offenses” where they pull you over for something and just pile this on top of it. Our cell phone laws are already like that.
It’s just reality, unfortunately. I had LOTS of encounters with the police as a young driver – but I did deserve every one of them, I drove like an asshole. Well, maybe not being picked out of traffic at 7 over the speed limit – 62 in a 55. Young guys in a car with skiis on the roof… But technically, I was speeding.
I don’t distrust the police at all – I fully expect them to be human, and do human things, with human biases, for better and for worse.
In my state it’s not enforced because there are too many loopholes. Cell phone use is banned while driving except for emergency calls … or navigation. This means the officer needs to see what was on your phone screen in order to make the charges stick. Otherwise the driver can swear they were “just pulling up navigation” and get out of the ticket every time. There is a push to restrict the navigation loophole, but it keeps getting delayed.
Kevin’s point stands, but at least in my state they choose other laws to selectively enforce based on skin color. For example, a license plate frame cannot obscure any lettering on the license plate. Courts have upheld a literal definition of this law, ruling that it is illegal to partially obscure the county name that’s on the bottom edge of the plate (and is partially covered by virtually every license plate frame).
They will select whatever law is easiest when they want to look you over in-person. There is no such navigation exception where I live in the summer. If a cop sees you touching a mobile device, and technically that includes one *in a holder*, he can ticket you. Thankfully they are normally not complete assholes, but as I said – if they want to be, they can find a way.
License plate frames should be cause for a rejected inspection sticker. They only exist to take advantage of existing screw holes and have no beneficial value. Even dealerships install advertising frames that cover up the name of the state where they do all their business in, like how are they that darn dumb.
Colorado was all about enforcement when the law took effect six months ago, but now there is zero enforcement and things are just as bad as before with people driving distracted with their phones in their hands. As much as I want to think the giant tablets strapped to the dash of modern cars are just as bad as a cell phone for distraction, that didn’t seem to be the case earlier in the year when everyone was terrified of getting a ticket if they even so much as thought about touching their cell phone.