Today, July 1, bans on texting-while-driving went into effect in six states, adding to the 18 others that already prohibit motorists from using their cellphones to send messages.
http://www.landlinemag.com/todays_news/Daily/2010/June10/062810/063010-03.htm
Michigan, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and Wyoming will start enforcing their new laws today. And a number of other states will have their anti-texting bans go into effect before the year ends, namely Kentucky, Louisiana, Wisconsin and Connecticut.
With so many laws against texting debuting today, the national and local media have done a lot of coverage on the new laws, their penalties and the whole issue of whether such bans really work. Every media outlet from NPR on the radio to Landline, the business magazine for professional truckers, to the Detroit Free Press did pieces on the new anti-texting legislation.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128220944
NPR cited statistics from the U.S. Department of Transportation that said that in 2008 roughly 6,000 people died in accidents connected to distracted driving, and some 500,000 were hurt.
The NPR report, interviewing Georgia State Police, focused on the difficultyof enforcing the texting bans. In other words, how do you know that someone is texting?
The texting bans that went into effect today vary from state to state, in terms of who they cover and their penalties.
For example, in Georgia the texting ban applies to all drivers, while in Iowa it also bans drivers under 18 from using a cellphone while beind the wheel.
The fines for violating the texting bans vary widely, from $30 in Iowa to $200 in the Cornhusker State.
The Detroit Free Press warned drivers in the Motor City that they could be fined $100 initially, then $200, if they are caught texting-while-driving from now on.
http://www.freep.com/article/20100701/NEWS05/100701012/1320/Texting-while-driving-could-cost-100-now