Texas governor signs texting-while-driving ban into law

[douglas9]

AUSTIN, Texas - Texting while driving will soon be illegal in Texas.

Gov. Greg Abbott signed the ban into law Tuesday, ending a decade-long effort by safety advocates to reduce potentially deadly driver distractions on the road.

Texas will become one of the last states to adopt some kind of texting while driving ban when the law takes effect Sept. 1. Texting would be punishable by a fine of up to $99 for first-time offenders and $200 for repeat offenses.

Dozens of Texas cities already ban texting while driving. The state law covers texting only and prohibits the use of hand-held phones to "read write or send an electronic message" while driving. Other Internet use for navigation or music programs is allowed.

http://www.click2houston.com/news/texas-governor-signs-texting-while-driving-ban-into-law

[jmowreader]

1. Totally unenforceable law

We have a similar law in Idaho. You aren't allowed to text, but you can dial your phone, use your handheld nav system or fiddle with your MP3 player. If the cops pull someone over for texting while driving, the driver need only say he or she was dialing and the cop has to let them go. Without a search warrant the cop can't go into the person's phone to see when the last text was sent - which is a good thing. So...the cops don't pull anyone over for that anymore.

Across the border from us, the state of Washington did it the right way - there's a ban on using handheld devices while driving.