MS House Passes Bills Against Texting & Driving

This week, the transportation committee met and passed several bills regulating texting and driving. Adoption of these bills would create a civil penalty for careless driving and a $25 fine for anyone convicted of texting or utilizing a social media site while driving. Local law enforcement officials are in favor of getting these bills turned into laws.

Sgt. Damon McDaniel, Public Information Officer for the Gulfport Police Department, says, “Distracted driving is a problem in itself. It takes the attention of the driver away from the roadway, even if it is for two seconds that you look down to type LOL or tell someone that you’ll call them right back or something like that. That two or three seconds that you looked away from the roadway may be the two or three seconds that you failed to realize a vehicle has stopped in front of you.”

Although the bills passed the House, they will still have to make it through the State Senate.