States Roll Out Bans on Texting While Driving

Alarmed by the dangers of driving while text messaging, legislatures in 23 states are considering outlawing the practice, which 19 states already ban. Lawmakers “often get involved because there's a high-profile accident that had to do with texting,” an expert tells USA Today. “Also, because everybody has a cellphone now.” Experts expect many of the pending laws to pass, and Sen. Chuck Schumer is working on a bill that would strip states that don’t ban texting while driving of 25% of federal highway funding.

One AAA exec foresees “a dozen or more" new bans in 2010. “There's clear public disapproval of the behavior, and there's strong public support for a law.” The president of a nonprofit recently formed by the federal government to combat the practice, whose mother was killed by a distracted driver, was more forceful. “That’s a no-brainer,” she says. “I'm kind of at a loss as to why every state doesn't have a no-texting law.”
(More distracted driving stories.)