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Texas Lawmakers Looking To Try Texting While Driving Ban Again


Texas lawmakers are trying again to pass a statewide ban on texting while driving. And on Tuesday they gathered at the capitol to hear some powerful testimony.

For the most part they sat quietly and let the photographs of family members do the talking.  Each brought a photo of a loved one killed by distracted driving.  But as we soon learned, sometimes the victim and the distracted driver were one and the same.

Jeanne Brown still shakes when she talks about her daughter Alex.  Alex died on her way to school in 2009.  And it was totally avoidable. "That girl was texting after I told her hundreds and thousands of times and threatened to take her phone away," she says.

The emotional testimony moved lawmakers to call for quick action.

"It's time for us to pass a uniform law that everyone understands in order to keep our drivers focused on the road and put safety first," says State Representative Patricia Harless (R-Spring).

Last session, state lawmakers approved a ban on texting while driving, but the governor vetoed it saying education and not a ban was the answer.  This time, the families of victims are hoping the governor has a change of heart.

By Fred Cantu