Texas and Florida lawmakers are each slated to consider a texting while driving ban in the 2013 legislative sessions, and now New Mexico looks to be doing the same.
A Senator from Santa Fe has pre-filed a bill that he hopes can be passed and thus put New Mexico in the same league as the other 39 states that have made a move to ban texting behind the wheel. However, this is not the first time that lawmakers in the state have attempted to curtail the dangerous texting behavior. Starting in 2009, officials in both the House and the Senate began to put forth laws that would ban texting. Four times lawmakers have debated a bill, and four times it has died before even going to the Governor for a signature.
The Senator putting forth the new bill has high hopes that this will be the one that finally receives approval. The proposed law would make texting at the wheel a misdemeanor that would entail a fine as high as $300. Offenders could also find themselves facing three months in prison. For her part, the Governor has stated that, if lawmakers finally agree on a texting ban, she would sign it into law.