Oklahoma passes no texting while driving bill

With an overwhelming support of 96-2, the state House approved a bill that sanctions a slap on the wrist for texting while driving offenders in Oklahoma.

Rep. Terry O’Donnell authored House Bill 1965 to prevent texting, emailing or instant messaging while operating a motorized vehicle. Unlike most states, the bill will not make texting while driving a primary offense.

“I think it’s about time that Oklahoma passed a texting and driving law,” Oklahoma City Police Officer Brad May said. “We are one of only six states that don’t have a law against it right now. And with as much as technology is continually booming, I think it is essential to have a law protecting all drivers and pedestrians from such distractions.”

Under the bill, texting while driving would be considered a secondary offense, meaning an officer can’t pull someone over solely for texting while driving, but if they are violating other traffic laws such as speeding or swerving then they could be cited for it.

Some Oklahomans said the bill does not address the issue enough.

Rep. Scott Inman said Oklahoma needs a law that would allow officers to pull over drivers for texting, regardless of other laws being broken, according to NewsOK.

“My wife was in a hit-and-run accident yesterday,” Rep. Inman said to NewsOK. “The people of Oklahoma want to make sure when somebody is texting and driving, that alone is enough to pull them over.”

Several republican and democratic representatives agree they would like to see the bill turn texting and driving into a first offense, rather than a secondary one.

Democratic Rep. Cory Williams said Oklahoma can do better and will be pushing to see the act classified as a primary offense.

Washington became the first state to ban texting while driving in 2007 with 43 states following suite, as well as Washington D.C., Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

“When Texas first banned texting and driving I didn’t really think anything of it,” freshman Chase Esparza said. “But then when I was old enough to drive I really saw the reasoning behind it. Any time I thought about picking up my phone the reality of getting a ticket because of it and having to explain it to my parents was enough to scare me out of it.”

Oklahoma will become the 45th state to implement a texting and driving law.

“The Texas law is obviously different because it bans texting while driving in any vicinity,” Esparza said. “And I think that’s why it has helped prevent so many accidents, because it’s always a first offense and you don’t have to be a terrible driver to get ticketed for it.”

John Pierce, a spokesperson for A Brotherhood Aiming Toward Education, told NewsOk that he recently escaped a near fatal accident when a texting driver pulled out of a casino and ran straight into his Harley Davidson.

The group of concerned motorcyclists showed their support for the bill on Tuesday, while it was being voted on.

“Motorcyclists are the worst sufferers from distracted driving,” Pierce said. “Because, you know, you take two SUVs, they have a bump at an intersection…you trade insurance cards and pretty soon your SUV is fixed and off you go. A little bump can kill us.”

According to a texting and driving safety website,  23 percent of all car accidents in 2011 involved a cell phone, totaling 1.3 million crashes. Furthermore, texting and driving also increases the chance of an accident by 23 percent.

“Texting is the most distracting thing you can do on your cell phone while driving,” Officer May said. “But we’re also concerned about emailing and social media updating. We need people to know that not only is it not okay to update your Twitter or Snapchat while driving it is also dangerous, and soon illegal.”

A crash typically happens within an average of three seconds after a driver is distracted, according to May.

“This is a good first step in protecting Oklahoma’s roads,” senior Thomas Ducat said. “For the majority of people, this will at least make them more aware of their actions and decrease the total number of drivers texting while driving.”

The Oklahoma bill was renamed in honor of two troopers – Nicholas Dees and Keith Burch – who were in a deadly traffic accident caused by a distracted driving.