Have you texted while driving? WTF is wrong with you? Talking on a cell phone in the car, taking the wheel while tipsy and getting more baked than a loaf of bread before hitting the roads scares us less than watching someone whip out their phone and start texting in the driver’s seat. H. 4282 was passed by the House on Wednesday by a vote of 98-18, making it a crime to act in such a behavior.
Unfortunately, amendments diluted penalties in the bill (because legislators want to keep texting while driving?), but it’s a good first step in the right direction in a state known for its dangerous highways.
“As technology changes so must our laws,” Speaker of the House Bobby Harrell said in a statement. “Our state’s teen drivers are the most avid cell phone users and the most inexperienced drivers on the road. The combination of the two is a formula for disaster. Multiple studies have clearly demonstrated the dangers of distracted driving — several concluding it to be more hazardous than drunk driving.”
