Know the Law: Texting and Driving

With the Sept. 1 signing of Texas House Bill 62, texting and driving is now against the law statewide.

According to AT&T’s Teen Driver Survey, 97 percent of teens agree texting while driving is dangerous, yet 43 percent do it anyway.

According to HB 62, it is now illegal for Texans to read, write or send any electronic message from a wireless device while driving. However, this does not include when the car is stopped.

As for the punishment associated with breaking this new law, a first offense will be a misdemeanor with a fine of at least $25 and not more than $99, but a second offense is punishable by a fine of at least $100 and not more than $200.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, distracted driving killed 3,477 people in 2015 and injured 391,000 more. The NHTSA’s website illustrates the danger of this behavior by explaining that a driver looking at their phone for about five seconds will move the length of a football field if they are traveling at a speed of 55 mph.

Tiffany Pelt, Lubbock Police Department’s public information officer, said even though this is a ban on texting, it is not a ban on phones. She said drivers will still be allowed to use hands-free devices, GPS navigation, and music.

“It really just focuses on that reading, writing, and sending of electronic messages,” Pelt said. “It is very specific.”

While officers will be looking for this behavior among drivers, Pelt said there are some challenges with enforcing the new law.

“The officer actually has to witness this offense taking place in order for them to write the ticket.” Pelt said. “And it is going to be very obvious violations where the officer is able to clearly see that they are texting or trying to send messages through Facebook, Twitter whatever social media it may be.”

While the law bans texting and driving, Pelt said distracted driving is much more than that because it also includes anything that takes your attention off of the road. With officers always trying to cut down on this kind of behavior, she said the new law is just one more tool for them to help keep the roadways safer.

Lubbock Mayor, Dan Pope, said he thinks it will begin to deter people from texting behind the wheel, but he also feels it will be very difficult for police officers to enforce. Being a father of two college age children, he said he sees a lot of young people, in particular, texting and driving.

Source: City of Lubbock

“I just really feel like we need to do all we can to ensure that people, that drivers, pay attention to the road,” Pope said. “And not their phones.”

He said he also understands the younger generation has grown up with phones in their hands and it is part of who that generation is as people, but he thinks behavior behind the wheel needs to change for drivers to stay safe.

“That’s how you grew up. It doesn’t make you bad people,” Pope said. “It’s just who you are, but we just have got to bend the curve on this thing. When we are behind the wheel, we need people to pay attention.”

Pope said he was in his early 20’s when Texas passed the law that required people to wear seat belts and he remembers feeling like they were infringing on his personal ability to make a decision. Now after a couple of decades of perspective, he believes it was good public policy. Generally, he said he is not a fan of this type of legislation because it feels like government overreach, but in this situation, he supports the legislation.

“I think we have seen so much tragedy related to distracted driving,” Pope said. “That we have got to do something to raise awareness.”

As for students, the change may already be in motion.

Donald Kerr, a senior electronic media and communications major at Texas Tech University, said he never texts and drives because of some experiences he had as a pizza delivery driver.

“I had people actually hit me because of the same problem where they were texting and driving,” Kerr said. ” So, no, I don’t do it at all.”

He said the only thing he is curious to see is how it will be enforced because his brother, who lives in San Antonio where a similar law already exists, has been pulled over several times while changing his music and the officers thought he was texting and driving. Other than that, he said he thinks it will be a good thing.

Pelt wants to remind people, while the fines may not seem like a lot of money, distracted driving could cost people so much more.

“If you’re texting and driving and you’re not paying attention to the road and you cause an accident or you hit someone crossing the road because you didn’t see them and you weren’t paying attention to them,” Pelt said.”That $25 fine means nothing. You’re talking about people’s lives. You’re talking about your life and no text message is that important.”

About Joseph Marcades

Joseph is the Graduate Managing Director for The Hub@TTU. He has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Texas Tech University and is currently pursuing his master's in mass communication. Has been with The Hub@TTU for one year. He loves his wife, football, golf, movies, Texas, and telling good stories.