West Virginia Considers Ban on Texting While Driving
The West Virginia senate is currently considering legislation that proponents hope will reduce the number of tragedies involved in sending text messages from cell phones while driving.

September 11, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- West Virginia Considers Ban on Texting While Driving

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In early September, a Bridgeport teenager died in a one-car accident. The junior at Bridgeport High was using his cell phone while attempting to negotiate a turn. The football player did not use his brakes before driving his vehicle head-on into a large tree.

The West Virginia senate is currently considering legislation that proponents hope will reduce the number of tragedies involved in sending text messages from cell phones while driving. Earlier this year, some members of the House sought to ban both texting and talking on cell phones, but the measure lost support after a senate amendment.

Members of the senate's Select Committee on Infrastructure have unanimously agreed to focus on texting alone as it works to write legislation for the 2010 session.

Committee leaders say their immediate goal is to determine if the texting ban would be a primary or secondary offense. A police officer cannot pull a motorist over to issue tickets for secondary offenses; those tickets are issued only in the course of traffic stops made for reasons related to primary offenses or accidents.

Recent studies provide overwhelming evidence of the dangers of texting while driving. A study released in July by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute showed that drivers who send cell phone text messages are 23 times more likely to be involved in a crash or near-crash event.

Researchers said the problem with texting while driving is pretty simple: Texting takes your attention off of the road and traffic.

Texting has risen dramatically in a short time. In December of 2005, cell phone users sent 9.8 billion text messages. Three years later, text messages were up to 110 billion, with an unknown number transmitted by drivers behind the wheels of cars.

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