State And Local Governments Take On Distracted Driving

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The Mississippi Senate passed a bill on February 5 that would make texting and driving against the law. The ban would only affect texting with handheld phones. Voice-to-text systems would remain legal. The current law addresses careless driving but not texting specifically.

Senate Bill 2434 adds language that says, "It is a rebuttable presumption that a person who manually texts or accesses social media while driving is in violation of this section."

The penalties are minimal. The law for careless driving says drivers will be punished by a fine between $5 and $50.

Now that the bill has passed the Senate, it will be sent to the House for debate.

In Mississippi, only school bus drivers and drivers with learner’s permits or intermediate licenses are currently prohibited from text messaging while driving.

Similarly, the City of Austin, TX’s Public Safety Commission voted on February 3 to ask the City Council to form a task force to explore additional ways to crack down on distracted driving.

The city has an ordinance banning texting while driving but still permits handheld phone conversations. Some city officials and local residents are pushing for a hands-free cell phone ordinance as well as restrictions on driver use of other mobile electronic devices.

 

 

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