The Texas Senate approved a bill on Friday, May 19th, that would ban texting and driving throughout the state. The final step to becoming law is a signature from Governor Greg Abbott, who will review the bill later this week.
Should Gov. Abbott sign the bill into law, the state of Texas would be the 47th state with this sort of distracted driving ban.
The bill, named HB 62, was written by state Sen. Judith Zaffirini and state Rep. Tom Craddick, and explicitly bans all forms of “electronic messaging” via handheld devices. This includes texting, emailing, and social media.
The bill does, however, allow drivers to use their mobiles devices for GPS and mapping tools, and playing music.
In addition, messaging will be allowed if a vehicle is not in motion, such as at a stop sign or red light; or in the case of an emergency.
TxDOT says that distracted driving is the cause of over 100,000 Texas crashes each year, with more that 21% of drivers admitting to reading or sending text messages or emails while driving a car.
“I have waited 10 years to make this motion,” Zaffirini said.
The bill and its supporters await the signature of governor Greg Abbott, who is scheduled to review the bill Friday, May 26th.
A similar bill made its way to former-Texas governor Rick Perry, who vetoed the bill, calling it “over-regulation of Texas drivers.”