Checking the Support for Texting Ban
Texting in traffic would be on the way out if Rep. Tom Craddick's ban gets enacted. Photo by Callie Hernandez/KUT NewsAudio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
In Austin, if a driver is caught texting while driving, it could mean a $500 fine. Everywhere in Texas it’s illegal to text in a school zone, but Gov. Rick Perry vetoed a statewide ban on all texting while driving in 2011.
Now a Midland lawmaker wants to try again, saying many states and cities have barred texting while driving and the state of Texas should follow suit. KUT’s Emily Donahue spoke to Gardner Selby of the Austin American- Statesman’s PolitiFact Texas about Tom Craddick’s count of those no-texting places.
We checked in with entities that had done the research. These included the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in Washington and the National Conference of State Legislatures, which is based in Denver; they both list 39 states that bar texting while driving, and their officials told us they based this on monitoring actions by the state legislatures. By the way, six states including Texas have partial bans.
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