BATON ROUGE - Three new state traffic laws took effect Friday, including one attempting to curb distracted driving.

According to federal transportation officials, distracted drivers can be blamed for nearly 3,300 deaths on the nation's highways annually.

Sometimes, people fiddle with the radio and take their eyes off the road, and others eat and drink while behind the wheel.

The new law, which the state legislature has tried to pass for a decade, was sponsored by State Rep. Brian Glorioso.

"We want to reduce the fatalities on the roads, we want to reduce significant injuries and accidents, and that will result in lower insurance rates for everyone," Glorioso said.

Glorioso's bill grew out of a previous Louisiana law that bans handheld cell phone use near schools and in construction zones.

"And the reason was obviously that we have small children crossing the roads, they may not be as in-depth at advising and looking at traffic as adults are. And in construction zones, the construction workers are at enhanced risk because of the compacted nature," Glorioso said.

Most vehicles are already hands-free ready. 
 
Owner Louis Saltz of David's Car Stereo said car stereo shops can retrofit vehicles so drivers of years-old models can comply with the new law.

"They seem to tie it to holding the phone in your hand, and that's what the Bluetooth eliminates. You don't have to hold the phone in your hand," Saltz said.

Glorioso said that technology has made it very easy for people to comply with the new law.

"We're hoping that with the law, people will say 'I'm going to take that extra 10 minutes. I'm gonna program my phone to work in my car, and I'm never going to have to worry about this again. I'll be able to keep my eyes on the road and if I need to take a call, I can do it hands-free,'" Glorioso added.

Another law now in effect requires motorists to stay out of the left lane if they're impeding traffic. While slow drivers are showing a lack of courtesy toward other drivers, they can also cause unsafe conditions as other motorists work their way around them.

Drivers can also have more tint on their front side windows. Louisiana hadn't updated its window tint law in more than 30 years.

The distracted driving law targeting handheld cell phones will have a six-month grace period. Troopers will write warning tickets for now, but fines will kick in next February.