Andre Yoskowitz
8 Aug 2009 19:51
Gov. Pat Quinn of the state of Illinois will sign an amendment to the state's Vehicle Code this week, making Illinois the 17th state in the US to have a ban on texting (text messaging) while driving.
The bill does have the exception however if the driver pulls over to park, or puts the car in neutral while stopped in traffic.
Since last year, 16 states have banned texting while driving including Oregon, New Hampshire, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Washington DC.
There are currently senators planning to push a bill that would make it federally illegal to text while driving. Recent studies have shown increased accident rates caused in part thanks to texting and show that texters are at substantially increased risk of getting into accidents.
"With drunk driving it was important to pass tough laws, but the laws won't really have any effect unless they're enforced and the public knows about it and it's properly adjudicated," says Barbara Harsha of the Governor's Highway Safety Association. "So passing a law isn't the solution, it's only part of it."