Texting While Driving Ban Becomes Official

CHICAGO (AP) -- College student Juan Ibarra hopes a new Illinois law banning text messaging while driving will help him kick the dangerous habit.

"I know I should not do it," said Ibarra, 24, a Northeastern Illinois University senior.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn was at the college Thursday to sign the law that bans motorists from texting or reading e-mail while they're moving.

Drivers can check and send messages if they pull over to the side of the road, their car is in park or neutral or if they're at a standstill in traffic, such as at a train crossing.

The law goes into effect Jan. 1.

"We all know we live in a fast-paced world. We're all busy, a lot of times maybe we get too busy and we get too distracted and distracted driving can cause a safety threat to many innocent people in our society and in our state," Quinn said.

Quinn also signed another bill making it illegal to use a cell phone without a handsfree device in school speed zones and highway construction zones.

Because of the safety threat posed by distracted driving, at least 14 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws making it illegal to text and drive.

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In Illinois, fines for this level of traffic violation typically start at $75 and go up to $150 but a judge can bump that up, according to Secretary of State Jesse White's office.

"It's a violation of all laws of human decency for you to get behind the wheel of an automobile and try to get from one point to the other without your eyes being on the road," White said.

The law doesn't prevent drivers from reading directions on a navigation system.

College student Cesar Miranda will have to change his driving and texting habits because of the new law.

Miranda, a Northeastern Illinois junior, had been careful to limit his texting to only when stopped at red lights, but that won't be legal anymore.

"Anything that ... saves peoples' lives, it's good," he said.

-ASSOCIATED PRESS

Comments

[chulanow]

Good....now if we can only get people to follow the law.

[ThirdSection]

Now I long for the good old days when drunks ruled the road.

[demomntgirl]

I don't text/talk while driving.
If it is an emergency...i pull off then call back.
Why is it we have to have a law to tell us...
gee what you are doing is STUPID...
so do not do it anymore!

Just use your brain...

[FHTB]

Ridiculous that anyone would be texting while driving...

[ThirdSection]

I certainly hope that watching DVDs while I mix martinis while jockeying for position on the freeway during rush hour isn't outlawed, because if that happens, my will to live will be gone.

[Cogs]

Too many people seem to have become slaves to these devices. I imagine most of these communications are just idle chat.

[Rayme]

I've done it a couple of times in the past just to send a couple of words, it's too difficult for me to text and drive at the same time. I gave it up, I'm not willing to crash my car just to text while driving.

[denicci1977]

I'm guilty :( I have memorized the keys on my phone so look at the road while doing it especially for a quick "y" or "n" response. It still isn't right and is dangerous. I definitely wouldn't want my kids doing it when they start, but I definitely will stop.

[KarateKid]

What !mbeciles, texting and driving at the same time.

[omobob]

But officer I wasn’t talking, I was texting? Much better? Duh.

[RockinDiva]

I had classmates who have almost or had a wreck while texting, and consider it no big deal. I truly think I was born in the wrong generation, sometimes.

[sawdustinhershoes]

No. You are just more intelligent than your classmates and more mature.

[FeloniusMonk]

I do beleive that such activities are distracting and dangerous, but I see the same distractions and dangers from parents driving down the road trying to deal with the children in the back seat.

[Bethab]

Amen!

[Mustang Sally]

Let's hope it becomes a National Law. It could save so many lives, plus reduce injuries and property damage.

[JScott]

In many countries you can't use an electronic device of any kind, hands free or no.
Makes sense, I mean really do you wanna be talking on the phone or texting while going 100 mph on the autobahn (and ya just know folks are STUPID enough to do than in the US)

[kidvidkid]

If it's anywhere near as successful as the ban on handheld cell phone use while driving, it will be...totally unsuccessful. That was enforced for a good 12 hours!

[stav506]

Chicago cops have more important things to do than check and see if you're driving and talking/texting. You know, like write out parking tickets and write out more parking tickets and write out even MORE parking tickets.

That, or check the photos from those damn cameras trying to catch people running yellow lights.

[ToniChicago]

And BEWARE - I pulled over to take a phone call from my lost 13 year old son a few months ago and was almost immediately slapped with a ticket. The cop came up behind me, (which made driving off pointless as I knew he had my number), wrote the ticket, handed it to me through my window without a word, and drove off. He never asked if I was in trouble, lost or anything. I actually filed a complaint (after paying the ticket) but of course, have heard nothing.

[Ferrante Photo]

You forgot checking the security @ Starbucks LOL

[Bethab]

Chicago cops are the ones talking on the phone!!

[gascelebrations]

It is very difficult for officers to tell if texting is actually in progress. I seriously can't see the difference when a car passes me between "texting" and "dialing a number". However, this is going to raise the potential for more traffic stops because the threshold for probable cause is lowered to include simply LOOKING like you're texting. So if someone looks like they're texting in a jurisdiction with these types of laws, you can expect to at least get pulled and at the most get ticketed.

Which, by the way, is a-ok with me because you need to be OFF THE PHONE AND DRIVING.

[RaceCondition]

It's pretty obvious as a fellow road warrior - if someone's looking down at their lap while their car swerves in and out of their lane, they're probably texting.

[DawnK]

I actually had some girl come to a dead stop on the off ramp at Fullerton so she could text. She was completely oblivious that she almost caused a multi car pile up.