Both hands on the wheel, with attention fully on the driving is a good idea. Distracted driving? Dangerous idea.

Distracted driving resulted in some 3,500 deaths in 2015, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That same year, 21 percent of the 291 fatal crashes in Massachusetts involved a distracted driver, according to the agency’s data.

Distractions sometimes are unavoidable, but we should not be creating them for ourselves by using handheld phones and other devices that can occupy our hands, eyes and attention while driving.

A bill that would ban the use of all handheld electronics by drivers has passed the state Senate, and will now move onto the House, where its passage remains uncertain.

The bill would make it illegal for drivers to hold a cellphone to make a call, access social media or use any camera functions on the phone while operating a vehicle. The legislation makes it clear that motorists will be considered to be operating a vehicle even while stopped at a traffic intersection. There are exceptions for tapping or swiping once to activate or deactivate hands-free mode or a voice command for navigation features, and for emergency calls.

The Senate’s proposal would also explicitly prohibit drivers from using their fingers to type addresses into GPS systems and mapping apps, though they could still display such apps to help with directions.

Drivers would be subject to a citation for even holding their phones near their heads or on their laps.

Fourteen states have similar laws, including our neighbors Vermont, Connecticut, New Hampshire and New York. Massachusetts should become the next.

The Senate bill creates fines of $100 for a first offense, $250 for a second and $500 for each subsequent offense. Surcharges that affect a driver’s insurance payments don’t kick in until the third offense, and drivers who break the law more than once would have to complete a program meant to change their behavior and attitudes about distracted driving.

Laws like this are needed to change the culture around distracted driving, just as tougher penalties for and more rigorous enforcement of drunken driving laws has changed the culture around driving when impaired.

State Senate President Stanley Rosenberg, D-Amherst, says an amendment added to the Senate bill will ensure that data is collected on the drivers who are fined, to make sure the law is being fairly and evenly applied. That is aimed at preventing the profiling of drivers who are of color or young.

A law passed in Massachusetts in 2010 prohibits texting and driving, and bans the use of handheld phones by 16- and 17-year-old drivers. That was a good first step and now it’s time to take the safety precautions further.

Some critics of the bill have invoked the “nanny state” complaint, but when you are driving a large metal machine, inattention or carelessness can kill or injure others — innocent people who just happen to get in a distracted driver’s way.

A Gazette reporter earlier this month interviewed drivers in Easthampton, and nearly every one had a story tell about distracted driving — either by themselves or others. Typical was the experience of Cassie Cummings, 20, of Easthampton, who described a recent incident when a female motorist pulled out in front of her in Northampton. “I was like, ‘What are you doing?’ ” Cummings recalled. “And I noticed she was on her phone.”

She added, “It’s really hard when you’re on the go and you really need to say something to someone, but you know you shouldn’t.”

A representative of Republican Gov. Charlie Baker says he appreciates the Legislature’s efforts to update the state’s distracted driving laws and promises to “carefully review” any bill that reaches his desk.

We support careful review, especially if it leads to safer roads through a law requiring hands-free electronics for drivers.

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