Texting while driving ban begins July 1

A new law is sure to get many Virginians to put down their phones while driving. As of July 1, it is illegal to text message while operating a motor vehicle in the state.
Currently, Virginia is now one of 14 states to pass a ban on text messaging, or the sending of shorthand messages typed out and transmitted.
Text messaging is a growing trend. According to a survey conducted by the CTIA, the International Association for Wireless Telecommunications, more than one trillion text messages were transmitted on carriers’ networks in 2008, breaking down to more than 3.5 billion messages per day. By comparison, in 2007, only 363 billion text messages were transmitted. And, texting while driving leads to driver distractions which lead to big accidents.
According to the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles’ (DMV) Virginia Highway Safety Office, last year 28,395 crashes occurred in the state involving driver distractions, like texting. Of those, 114 people died and 14,480 were injured.
The new law is for all drivers, regardless of age but according to a study conducted by Nationwide Insurance, texting while driving may be generational. The study found that 37 percent of people ages 18 to 27 said they text message while driving, while 14 percent of those ages 28 to 44 and only two percent of drivers ages 45 to 60 admitted to it.
“The law is meant for everyone and I see plenty of mature adults texting,“ Gordonsville Police Chief Chris Spare said.  “While it is dangerous for anyone to drive with distractions, I think it is even more critical with new or inexperienced drivers.  I agree that texting does seem more prominent in younger folks.“
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, it is actually illegal for drivers under the age of 18 to be using their cell phones at all in the state of Virginia while driving. Both this law and the new texting law are secondary offenses, meaning that a driver must be pulled over for something else initially, not texting or using the phone.
“Virginia’s seatbelt law is a secondary offense as well,“ Spare said.  “You must have another reason to make the stop before you can charge for this offense.  I have not seen the language in the statute but based on what I have heard I think it will be difficult to determine if someone is texting, navigating through the different options or simply talking on the phone.“
So how would it be determined if someone was texting or not? According to Orange County’s Commonwealth’s Attorney Diana Wheeler, phone records could be subpoenaed to determine if a person was in fact texting at the time of an accident or traffic stop.
If found guilty, texting while driving carries a $20 fine for the first offense and a $50 fine for a second offense.
According to the DMV, the law does come with some exceptions including emergency vehicle operators, drivers reporting an emergency or a driver who is parked. The law also bans emailing in addition to texting. For more information, visit http://www.dmv.state.va.us