By Chelyen Davis
The Free Lance-Star
RICHMOND — Eating a hamburger, fiddling with the iPod or putting on lipstick while driving could be illegal under a bill from Del. Bobby Orrock.
Orrock, R-Caroline, has filed a bill that essentially makes all “distracted driving” a primary offense, for which police could pull you over and ticket you.

Usually the legislature sees bills focusing on limits to texting while driving, or talking on the cell phone while driving.
But “texting, putting on makeup, snarfing down a cheeseburger, whatever” while driving can all be dangerous, Orrock said. He said he even saw a man driving down Route 1 using an iPad.
“They’re clearly engaging in a dangerous activity,” Orrock said of such drivers.
But such distracted driving isn’t currently illegal as a primary offense, he said.
Orrock wants to give police the tools to stop such drivers before they cause accidents.
“My intention is to create a new driving offense … so law enforcement will at least have the authority to pull someone over,” Orrock said. “I think this is a tool that they need to assist in that end. We know distracted driving leads to accidents.”
The language of Orrock’s bill outlaws driving a vehicle “while engaged in an activity that is not necessary to the operation of the vehicle and that actually impairs his ability to operate the vehicle is guilty of a traffic infraction.”
He wanted to make sure his bill could cover as many driving distractions as possible.
“If we’re going to look at it, we need to look at it in the full context,” Orrock said. “We need to look at it in a comprehensive manner.”