In this photo illustration, a woman uses her mobile phone while driving. (credit: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
AUSTIN (AP) - Sending or reading text messages while driving would be outlawed in Texas under a bill passed by legislature and headed for Gov. Rick Perry’s desk.
Lawmakers late Sunday approved the ban on texting while driving as a midnight deadline approached. Drivers caught texting or emailing on their phones can be fined upward of $200.
Republican Rep. Tom Craddick sold the proposal as a public-safety measure, but the bill triggered more than a half-hour of debate on the House floor. Opponents said the bill would amount to criminalizing drivers simply for receiving a text message while driving.
San Antonio and El Paso already have laws forbidding texting while driving, and at least 30 other states have enacted similar statewide bans.
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35 Comments
It’s about time! I have personally seen over a dozen idiots in the past several months drifting into other lanes, nearly rear-ending other people, etc., and when I pull up beside them to yell at them, they’re STILL TEXTING! It’s got to be more dangerous than drunk driving. I hope the fines are steep ($250+).
May 30, 2011 at 7:45 am
I just read the fine amount. Haven’t had coffee yet.
UPWARD of $200?! Hopefully most will be closer to $200, rather than a paltry $25 or $50.
May 30, 2011 at 7:48 am
WHAT?! Fines for texting?! Are we the Ruskies? WE LIVE IN UMERIKA! SUCCEED FROM THE ONION NOW! YEEEHAAAAW!
-Sent From My iPhone
May 30, 2011 at 7:50 am
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This could save lives, and, Drunken Redneck, can’t help but admire your attitude in your third statement! `
May 30, 2011 at 8:06 am
It will certainly save lives, including the texters about to pull off their own Darwin Awards.
May 30, 2011 at 8:15 am
$200 fine????
I say START at $500 fine & second offense loss of driving privleges for 1 year.
May 30, 2011 at 8:18 am
That’s what I’m talking about! YES!
May 30, 2011 at 9:07 am
lol, like some stupid law is gonna stop anyone from texting and driving. Thats jsut too funny.
http://www.privacy-web.no.tc
May 30, 2011 at 8:41 am
It won’t seem so stupid after the first $200 ticket, CHARLIE.
May 30, 2011 at 9:09 am
This is a great law. A law isn’t stupid just because there are those who choose not to follow the law.
May 30, 2011 at 11:34 am
I cant believe that a law has to be passed for this..It is so asinine to begin with. Now, accompany it with hands-free yakking, too!
May 30, 2011 at 8:41 am
It’s about time. Honestly, I’ve been seeing more of the 40 – 50 age group texting more and more lately. Also, people driving work trucks texting. It’s scary. If you must text, wait till a red light or PULL OVER!
May 30, 2011 at 9:04 am
IT’S ABOUT TIME TEXAS DOES SOMETHING ABOUT ALL THIS TEXTING WHILE DRIVING .. I’VE ALMOST BEEN HIT NUMEROUS TIMES FROM DRIVERS NOT PAYING ATTN. TO THE ROAD .. JUST BECAUSE YOU GET A TEXT WHILE YOUR DRIVING DON’T MEAN YOU HAVE TO READ IT .. WAIT TIL YOUR PARKED … IF YOU FEEL IT’S AN IMPOTIANT TEXT FIND A SAFE PLACE TO PULL OVER AND READ IT …
May 30, 2011 at 9:52 am
No law will prevent people from texting while driving.
As an example, no law prevents people from drinking and driving. The punishments for DWI are much stricter, yet people still do it.
DWI, 1st Offense: Class B Misdemeanor in Texas
* Fine – A fine not to exceed $2,000.
* Jail – Confinement in the County Jail for a term of not less the 72 hours nor more that six (6) months. Open Container – If there was an open container of alcohol in your car when arrested, the minimum term of confinement is six (6) days in the county jail.
* Community Service – Texas law mandates that a judge order not less than 24 hours nor more than 100 hours.
May 30, 2011 at 10:16 am
That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have laws against those two things. If we used that kind of reasoning, we wouldn’t have laws against murder.
May 30, 2011 at 11:31 am
What an idiotic argument filled with completely disconnected logic. EVERY LAW has those who follow said law and those who break it. There’s a law against MURDER, too, moron, and while most people follow that law, others obviously do not.
May 30, 2011 at 2:26 pm
The comments in the first part of this story had people were saying the fines should be higher. I was simply pointing out that laws do not stop people from doing things. The tone of some in this conversation was that this law would finally stop the problem.
As we all know no law stops people from doing anything.
May 30, 2011 at 4:46 pm
Viva le Revolucion! I support Fidel and the battle for world communism. My station Channel 4 in Miami supports the Revolucion. Viva Fidel.
May 30, 2011 at 10:58 am
Put the joint down, hippie.
May 30, 2011 at 2:32 pm
I saw a guy rear end an SUV at a light and he gets out of his car still texting on his phone !
May 30, 2011 at 11:51 am
I would have totally kicked the guy’s a$$ within inches of his life if I was the person being rear-ended and saw that dunce still texting.
May 30, 2011 at 2:31 pm
hey I am a really good driver when i am text driving, Its for people who can’t use there brain carefully.
May 30, 2011 at 12:01 pm
Yes, I see.
May 30, 2011 at 1:17 pm
Yeah, ITS for people using THERE brain. You moronic loser. Judging by your horrid spelling, your “brain”, if rolled down the edge of a razor blade, would look like a BB rolling down a 4-lane highway.
May 30, 2011 at 2:29 pm
How about texting while walking across a busy street??? Saw a young woman walk across Cooper Street while texting.
May 30, 2011 at 1:33 pm
I would hope for a Darwin Award in her case.
May 30, 2011 at 2:33 pm
Did I mention she jay walked also?
May 30, 2011 at 6:10 pm
You’ve hear the old saying, “Ignorance is curable, STUPID is forever”!
May 30, 2011 at 2:33 pm
Leave to the republicans to do a bill only half way.Cell phones should be banned period while driving unless you are using a handsfree device.
May 30, 2011 at 5:09 pm
I totally agree with the rare exception of a physician making a life saving phone call should a cell EVER be used while driving.
May 30, 2011 at 6:09 pm
I would hope the physiscian is intelligent enough to pull over to make his life saving call. No use saving one life at the risk of many others.
May 30, 2011 at 8:56 pm
A great start to trying to get driver’s hands back on the wheel, eyes on the road and mind on their driving. Now let’s see how well local police enforce it. Will they actually pull over and ticket every driver they see breaking this law or let most pass? Will every accident be followed with pulling the at fault driver’s phone log? How about the courts, will the charges and fines be upheld or constantly over turned or reduced. Without enforcement, a law has little meaning.
May 30, 2011 at 8:55 pm
This should apply to all use of cell phones while driving no matter if hand held or not. If people want to run their heads and mouths they can do it parked. If I can pull over to talk, you most certainly can also.
That way other expensive time and bills would not have to be proposed in the future on something we all know causes accidents.
As for those who don’t want to follow the laws, watch out because someone pulled off on the side of the road may just video tape your breaking the law along with getting a close up of you and the plate number. Might even spice up the law to award people doing this getting a $100 reward for everyone they turn in. That would end abuse fast.
May 30, 2011 at 10:33 pm
My question is, how do you enforce it? How will an officer know a person is texting and not entering and address in to his GPS app or dialing a number or turning the phone off or whatever else you can do on a cell phone besides text?
May 31, 2011 at 7:06 am