Why haven't all the states banned texting while driving?

PRN - GHN News Editor -Despite all the stories about
accidents happening from attention diverted while texting, many states
and municipalities have yet to pass legislation against it.  Why is that?

 
One legal expert www.belllaw.com
examines this question with the example of West Virginia.  the firm
observes how another legislative session has ended in West Virginia, but
the state still has not made texting behind the wheel illegal. While
there is a general distracted driving law that encompasses all behaviors
behind the wheel that pull the driver's attention away from the road,
some lawmakers and safety advocates say that it is not enough. The state
does ban novice drivers, those with a learner's permit or intermediate
license, from using cell phones and/or texting while operating a
vehicle.



Several other states have at least
made texting a secondary offense, meaning that law enforcement could
issue a citation for sending or reading texts behind the wheel, but the
West Virginia legislature has yet to reach a consensus on a statute.



It's not as if a texting ban is
unheard of among West Virginia's lawmakers and others still sorting out
what to do and when to do it. There have been several different
proposals, dating back to 2008, that have failed for one reason or
another. Unfortunately, though, by not making texting illegal, the legal
loophole allowing it remains open. Texting behind the wheel would have
to rise to the level of technical "distraction" to be punishable,
meaning that it is a subjective call on the part of the officer as to
whether or not the law is being violated. This added level of
deliberation means that the safety of state roadways can be compromised.



The state of West Virginia
obviously understands the dangers inherent in using mobile electronic
devices while driving, and now prohibits all state employees from using
anything but a hands-free communication device. Unfortunately, the
acknowledgment of potential hazards has not trickled down to all
residents of the state.



Until such a time that sending or
checking text messages behind the wheel becomes illegal, it will
continue to happen on West Virginia roads and other states around the
nation.



While the law firm passionately
argues the case against texting while driving, researchers at the
Highway Loss Data Institute in Arlington, Va., say laws prohibiting
motorists from texting while driving are not bringing down crash rates.
In fact, research has found that in three of four states studied crash
rates tend to increase after a ban goes into effect.  The hypothesis is
that the ban doesn't consider other forms of distraction and is too
general.http://www.truckinginfo.com/news/news-detail.asp?news_id=71779



At the same time, there are experts
that have looked at the nature of distractions caused by cell phones
and other similar devices and observe that attention is more than just
visual.  A driver's attention can wander while talking on a hands-free
device, making adjustments to the device and also thinking more about
the conversation on a telephone than what is happening on the road.