By Bob Katzen

PROHIBIT The Transportation Committee’s agenda also included a bill, known as Charlie’s Law, which would prohibit anyone from video recording or broadcasting live while driving a vehicle.

“I filed this legislation to honor my constituent, Charlie Braun of Northampton – a beloved partner, father, grandfather and community member – who was struck and killed by a motor vehicle while riding his bicycle,” said sponsor Sen. Jo Comerford (D-Northampton). “Reports indicate that the driver of the vehicle was engaged in a FaceTime conversation while driving. Charlie’s tragic death underscored a gap that remains in our distracted driving laws, one that this bill seeks to close.”

Comerford continued, “In recent years, there has been a rapid rise in what’s known as ‘vlogging,’ or video recording or live broadcasting, while behind the wheel. A 2021 report from State Farm’s Auto Insurance Research Department found that between 2015 and 2020, the number of drivers recording videos while driving more than doubled, from 10 percent to nearly one in four. The data are particularly troubling among younger drivers: 44 percent of drivers aged 18 to 29 and 37 percent of those aged 30 to 39, reported recording videos while driving. Other states, including Georgia, Arizona, Tennessee and Utah, have taken action to explicitly prohibit this behavior. Massachusetts should do the same.”