2007 House Bill 5117 (Ban “text messaging” while driving )

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Introduced by Rep. Steve Bieda (D) on August 21, 2007, to establish as a civil infraction “text messaging” while driving. Specifically, the bill would explicitly prohibit operating a motor vehicle while reading, manually writing, or sending a message on an electronic wireless device.
- Referred to the House Transportation Committee on August 21, 2007.
  - Reported in the House on May 20, 2008, with the recommendation that the substitute (H-3) be adopted and that the bill then pass.
  - Substitute offered in the House on December 4, 2008, to replace the previous version of the bill with one that also bans driving while talking on a hand-held cell phone. Hands-free phones would not be banned. The substitute failed in the House by voice vote on December 4, 2008.
  - Substitute offered by Rep. Steve Bieda (D) on December 4, 2008, to replace the previous version of the bill with one that specifies that enforcement would be accomplished only as a secondary action (when the driver had been stopped for another violation), and that no points would be assessed for violations. The substitute passed in the House by voice vote on December 4, 2008.
Passed in the House (68 to 32) on December 4, 2008, to establish as a civil infraction “text messaging” while driving. Specifically, the bill would explicitly prohibit operating a motor vehicle while reading, manually writing, or sending a message on an electronic wireless device. Enforcement would be accomplished only as a secondary action (when the driver had been detained for another violation), and no points would be assessed for violations. [Vote Details and Comments]
Received in the Senate on December 10, 2008.
- Referred to the Senate Transportation Committee on December 10, 2008.

Most Recent Comments

1) We Also Need [by Anonymous Citizen on September 10, 2007]
to look into these folks that change their babies diapers while driving.
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2) Text Messaging is nothing ... [by Mike Hignite on September 10, 2007]
... compared to the danger of cooking pancakes while driving.

Besides the obvious fire-hazard danger of operating a coleman stove in the front seat of an SUV doing 70 mph down I-94, the constant need to flip pancakes, keep the pancake off the roof of the car, have it hit the griddle cleanly and pass people in the slow lane is way too much distraction.

Forget text-messaging. Let's stamp out pancake grilling while operating a motor vehicle.
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3) how about we just label [by Anonymous Citizen on August 30, 2007]
text messaging while driving as what it is, wreckless endangerment. give the driver who does it a year behind bars, and see how often it happens again.

don't wait for some twit with a cell phone to kill your kids, fix the problem now with the existing laws we have.

writing new laws doesn't solve the problem, ENFORCING THE LAW DOES.
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