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More High Profile Support For Ban On Texting While Driving


The nation's top highway official is throwing his weight behind efforts to ban texting while driving in Texas. Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez is from El Paso, and he says he hopes Texas will someday pass a law to restrict texting while driving. 

Former House Speaker Tom Craddick is trying to make that someday happen this session. The Midland Republican is pushing his proposed ban on texting while driving through the House Transportation Committee. The legislation would include exceptions for hands-free devices and GPS. That pretty much mirrors the ban the City of Austin has had in place since 2009. 

Enforcing the law has been a problem since it requires police to observe a particular driver for a while to make sure what they're doing is texting and not one of the allowed exceptions.

Craddick's last attempt at banning texting while driving passed the legislature but was vetoed by the governor who called it a government effort to micromanage the behavior of adults. 

Texas does ban Texting while driving for two specific groups. Texas along with Mississippi and Oklahoma ban texting by school bus drivers. And Texas also already bans the use of wireless devices by underage drivers.

To keep up with efforts to make Texas a no text zone, go to http://www.keyetv.com/news/features/ntz/.

By Fred Cantu