Oklahoma To Consider Texting Ban?

Posted & filed under distracted driving, Oklahoma Car Insurance, Technology.

Oklahoma may be the next state jumping on the bandwagon to ban texting while driving if a new House bill passes. State Representative Danny Morgan (D – Prague) introduced the new bill on Wednesday, accompanied by law enforcement officers, health officials, and executives from insurance and wireless telephone companies.

Morgan’s measure, better known as House Bill 1316, would make it a criminal violation for anyone aged eighteen or under to use a cell phone while driving (except in emergencies) and would prohibit all drivers from texting while driving or using a cell phone in school crossing zones or construction zones.

All violations would be a primary offense.

Morgan says he feels there will be bipartisan support for the measure, and dismissed any notion that such a bill represents an infringement on personal liberty. He told the press that driving in Oklahoma is a responsibility and not, “… a God-given right.”

Representative Sue Tibbs (R – Tulsa) is a principal co-author of the bill.

George Brown, a spokesperson for the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said that texting while driving has led to numerous fatalities in his state.