EDITORIAL: Expand ban on texting to all drivers
Feb. 22—IOHO (in our humble opinion), lawmakers in Jefferson City are right to expand the texting-while-driving ban in Missouri to adults.
TBH (to be honest), we would have thought this had been done already. After all, it was 2009 when Missouri made it illegal for anyone under 21 to send a text message from a handheld device while driving.
ICYMI (in case you missed it), we'd like to recommend a link we've had up before, at https://vimeo.com/591094489, about the dangers of distracted driving. It takes four minutes. It's the story of what happened to Randall Siddens, 34, of Columbia, when a distracted driver plowed into him while he was picking up traffic cones after a marathon. The driver was on her cellphone when it happened and didn't see the workers — who were wearing visibility vests — or the orange cones, or the yellow caution lights on the flatbed truck, or the patrol car that was escorting the work crews. The video was first circulated by AAA, which also noted: "In Missouri alone over 100 people are killed each year due to distracted driving." The number nationwide is in the thousands.
The good news: On Monday, the Senate Transportation, Infrastructure and Public Safety Committee advanced legislation that would extend the ban to all drivers.
State Sen. Greg Razer, D-Kansas City, a sponsor of one of the bills, said: "This is a bad habit everyone has been guilty of."
State Sen. Jason Bean, R-Holcomb, said the bill would make a first offense an infraction, with a fine of up to $50, and two points on the driver's record. The penalty would increase with subsequent offenses within a two-year period.
"It is time we don't do that anymore," Bean said of texting while driving.
The Missouri Department of Transportation has for many years promoted its "Buckle Up, Phone Down" campaign, but if it takes getting tough to stop this dangerous practice, so be it.
Under the proposals, the definition of a device is expanded from cellphones to include computers, tablets and devices capable of displaying or sending video signals. Only hands-free use of those devices, in limited situations, is permitted. Drivers also would be barred from watching movies or streaming video from in-car devices. Anyone under 18 would be banned from using any electronic communication device at all while driving, even if the use is hands-free. The bans would not apply to law enforcement and would not be applied to CB radios.
We think this is long overdue and urge drivers to remember: The lives they save may be their own. Or ours.
THX. (Thanks)
