Paul Miller Jr., a 21-year-old Scranton man, was killed July 5, 2010, when a tractor-trailer driver reached for his cellphone, lost control and crashed into Miller’s car.

His mother, Eileen Miller, turned her grief into activism. First she fought to ensure the distracted driver was criminally prosecuted and sentenced to a period of incarceration instead of simple probation. Then she began to push for legislation that would ensure no one else would pay for someone’s distracted driving in the way her son did.

It took 14 years, but under Paul Miller’s Law, if police see someone holding a device, they can stop that driver without needing any other violation. As of this past Friday officers can issue citations.

It’s something most drivers have been guilty of at least once in their lives after the advent of the smartphone age, but it’s something no one should be doing. It’s taken a while for legislation to catch up to reason, as is often the case, but if it stops even one tragedy like Paul Miller’s, his mother’s work will not have been in vain.

Specifically, the law prohibits the use of interactive handheld mobile devices while driving and applies even when drivers are stopped at red lights, stop signs and in traffic jams. Summary fines based on the citations will carry a $50 fine.

It’s been law since 2024, going into effect in 2025. But, until now, officers could only issue warnings. Those days are over and drivers should expect a citation if they’re seen holding, touching or manipulating their smartphone while behind the wheel. Pressing more than a singular button or holding a phone in your hand while behind the wheel is enough to violate the law. Officers won’t need another reason to pull a car over. Witnessing the device in your hand is all they’ll need.

It won’t eliminate accidents, of course, but it should help. If we can do something — or not do something as the case may be — to lower our risk, why wouldn’t we follow the new law? We’ve become so used to having a device in our hands nearly all the time, regardless of what else we’re doing at the time, it will be an adjustment; but it’s an adjustment we should absolutely make.

Very few people can say this won’t usher in a change in how they currently travel through Pennsylvania. We get it. But it’s a change we should all be willing to make. There was a time when we didn’t have devices available to distract us while driving and we made do with listening to the radio.

We’ll survive the switch back — in fact, we’ll be more likely to survive in general.

— KL