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Virginia Drivers "Texting" Subject to Fines Come July 1, 2009

On July 1, 2009, it will be illegal to text using a cellular device when operating a motor vehicle on Virginia highways. Code section 46.2-1078.1 goes into effect then, and anyone convicted faces a $20.00 fine and court costs; a second offense enhances the fine to $50.00. Virginia joins 11 other states and the District of Columbia which have enacted laws banning "texting" in the driver's seat.

Hopefully, enactment of the "no texting" law will reduce the number of traffic accidents and fatalities on I-95, I-64 and I-295, in and around Richmond. Driver inattention is the leading factor in most crashes and near-crashes, according to a 2006 study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI). Nearly 80 percent of crashes and 65 percent of near-crashes involved some form of driver inattention within three seconds of the event.  

In a Fox News article by Joshua Rhett Miller, published  May 11, 2009, transportation officials expressed concern that texting remains a "serious issue" on the nation's roadways, and transportation systems. Recently, a Boston area trolley operator failed to see a red light while reportedly sending his girlfriend a text message and smashed into the back of another trolley, injuring 50 people.

"For every two seconds a driver's eyes are off the road, a motorist is twice as likely to be involved in a crash, said Troy Green, national spokesman for AAA. "Texting while driving ... requires your full attention and leaves no room for distraction," Green said. "You'd have to be foolish at best and delusional at worst to think you can send and receive text messages while operating a motor vehicle effectively and safely....We believe that's something that should be banned."

Texting and cell phone use have been blamed for numerous deadly crashes in the past few years, including:

Nov. 20, 2008

Aug. 6, 2008

Jan. 3, 2008: Stephanie Phillips, 37, and Heather Hurd, 26, were killed when a trucker reportedly distracted by text-messaging on his cell phone crashed into their car along U.S. 27 in Florida.

Aug. 13, 2007:

June 28, 2007

April 26, 2007

March 18, 2007: Sela Anne Kalama, 19, was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter after she reportedly drove off the end of a road and into the Elwha River in Washington. Vanna Francis, 17, and Ronnie Scroggins, 15, were killed in the crash. Kalama and four others swam to shore and suffered only minor injuries.

Dec. 20, 2006

June 18, 2006

May 29, 2006

 

 

: Jessalyn Sanders, 6, was struck and killed by a truck as she crossed a street near her home in Tulsa, Okla. The driver of the truck, Justin Pearsall, reportedly told police he had reached down to answer his cell phone and did not see the girl.: Karyn "Nikki" Cordell, 22, and her unborn child die in a crash in Deerfield Township, Ohio. Cordell's 1998 Chevrolet Cavalier was slammed head-on by a 2004 Ford Explorer driven by 16-year-old Alexander Manocchio, who was allegedly reaching for a ringing cell phone at the time of the wreck.: Brittanie Montgomery, a 19-year-old dancer for the NBA's New Orleans Hornets, died in a crash in Oklahoma City while reportedly using her cell phone as she drove to practice.: Eight people were killed when a semi trailer driven by Leonardo Cooksey, 32, slammed into stopped traffic on the Indiana Toll Road. Cooksey, of Mount Prospect, Ill., told state police that he was distracted when his cell phone beeped, indicating the battery was low.: Text messages were sent and received on the cell phone of Bailey Goodman, 17, moments before her sport-utility vehicle slammed head-on into a truck, killing her and four other recent high school graduates in upstate New York. Ashley D. Miller, 18, of Glendale, Ariz., and Stacey Stubbs, 40, of Chino Valley, Ariz., die in a crash after Miller reportedly drifted across the center line because she was text-messaging on her cell phone.: Janet Indermuehle, 48, was reportedly speeding and using her cell phone while driving as she lost control of her car and crashed near Mount Horeb, Wis. Indermuehle, her 15-year-old son Daniel, and a 14-year-old passenger, Tiffany Kastner, were killed in the wreck.: Stephanie Phelps, 16, and her 4-month-old daughter, Katherine Pulsifer, were killed when the young mother, who was talking her cell phone, ran a red light and crashed into cement truck in Amarillo, Texas.