Jackson Free Press

A new bill signed into law by Gov. Haley Barbour last week mandates that teens under 18 with an intermediate license or learner's permit cannot text friends and family while they are behind the wheel.

The bill, SB 2280, provides for a misdemeanor charge and a fine of up to $500 for teens caught texting and driving. If the teen is involved in an accident and is texting, the fine increases to a maximum of $1,000.

The new law goes into effect on July 1. In addition to restrictions on texting, the bill also adds six months to the minimum age for teens to receive a driver's license. An intermediate license, which allows some unsupervised driving, will become available to 16-year-olds under the law. Teens will need now to be at least 16-and-a-half years old to receive a regular license.

Previous Commentsshow

Truly moronic that it doesn't apply to everyone.

DonnaLadd

Apr 14 2009

$500? That is ridiculous. I honestly agree with any traffic fines.

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Apr 14 2009

Truly moronic that it doesn't apply to everyone. Truly. Sure, I support the bill, but the adults need to be included too.

golden eagle

Apr 14 2009

Even if it did include adults, I still haven't figured out how they are going to enforce it. If the kid is holding the phone up to their face they might see them, but they will never know if someone is texting or not. They can't see into cars good enough to if someone is texting.

BubbaT

Apr 14 2009

This sounds like one of those bills that probably started off with good intentions--like maybe mandating hands-free cell phone use for all drivers--and then got watered down to the point of absurdity. I agree that this is going to be extremely difficult, if not impossible to enforce. Hand-free cell phone usage has been mandated in a number of states in an attempt to reduce accidents by drivers with one hand on the phone and one on the wheel. Research has shown, however, that drivers' attention is still significantly impaired by simply talking on the phone, even when they have both hands free. It's the lack of attention to driving that's the problem.

Ronni_Mott

Apr 14 2009

You then could say the same for people who have passangers in the car. If you get distracted by hands-free devices then you would get distracted having a conversation in the car.

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Apr 14 2009

Actually JOKeefe, it's not quite the same, because a passenger also serves as a second set of eyes. Between the two of you, you might just make one alert driver :-) Of course, if you're having an emotionally charged argument or you're trying to get your kid or dog to behave, all bets are off.

Ronni_Mott

Apr 15 2009