Last week, I was pleased to see that two of my bills were passed in both the Maine Senate and House of Representatives. These two very important bills respectively address the issues of distracted drivers and fire prevention and protection.

The Transportation Committee voted out a unanimous report on LD 6, “An Act to Establish a Distracted Driver Law,” after making slight technical changes. LD 6 makes it a traffic infraction if you fail to maintain control of your vehicle if you are distracted while driving. The term “distracted” is defined as driving while engaged in an activity that impairs your ability to drive safely and isn’t necessary to operate your vehicle.

This legislation came about as a result of an incident on the turnpike last summer when a woman was stopped after driving through a toll booth while watching a television show on her computer. A state trooper pulled her over and issued her a warning, but did not fine her since Maine had no specific law to deal with this kind of occurrence.

LD 6 was broader than most other legislation that had been introduced this session, as those simply addressed cell phone use while driving. This bill takes into consideration things that take your concentration off the road while driving, such as eating or drinking a beverage, reading the paper, putting on makeup, watching movies; anything that could potentially cause an accident. This bill does not make these actions illegal, unless you stop paying attention to the road while you’re performing them and you lose control of your vehicle. The goal is to make people focus on the road while they are driving and not on the myriad of things going on inside the vehicle.

The second bill to pass last week was LD 550, “An Act to Protect Maine Residents from Home Fires and Carbon Monoxide.” The Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee also voted this bill out of committee with a unanimous report.

LD 550 requires all newly constructed single-family and multi-apartment dwellings constructed or sold in the state to have both smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors that meet certain specifications and are installed in certain locations within those residential units.

Nationally, more than 400 Americans die from unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning each year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports. In addition, more than 20,000 people visit the emergency room and more than 4,000 are hospitalized each year because of carbon monoxide poisoning. The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 150 people per year are seen in emergency rooms across the state and, on average, between one and five deaths occur due to carbon monoxide poisoning.

Aside from highlighting the importance of carbon monoxide monitors, this bill also modernizes the law that applies to smoke detectors, taking into consideration the new technology that is available. This law hasn’t been updated in eleven years.

Both LD 6 and LD 550 will be enacted by the Senate this week, before being sent down to the governor’s office for the chief executive to sign them into law. I am satisfied with the results of these bills; Maine will benefit greatly from their passage.

As always, it is my pleasure to serve as your senator. Please don’t hesitate to contact my office at the State House by calling 287-1515, or visit my Web site, http://www.mainesenate.org/diamond.

Sen. Bill Diamond is a resident of Windham, and serves the District 12 communities of Casco, Frye Island, Raymond, Standish, Windham and Hollis.