Much ink has been expended detailing the assumed difficulties of enforcing texting and driving laws when cellphone usage is still a legal offense. A news station in Charlotte, North Carolina noticed this trend and sought to get to the bottom of it. More importantly, though, their investigation has apparently opened the eyes of one lawmaker, who has expressed an interest in strengthening the state’s laws against texting and driving.
Earlier in February, the news team investigated enforcement of a texting ban and deduced that cracking down on the measure was rather difficult. One senator was so interested in their findings that he agreed to go with the news crew on a ride-along with a State Trooper.
Along the way, the trooper pointed out the many signals of distracted driving along the road. Vehicles drifted over to one side of the lane before coming back in line, and drivers’ hands could be seen away from the wheel while their eyesight was pointed downward to what was almost definitely a phone. A cab driver also had to be stopped by troopers for potentially breaking the law.
Yet despite this, enforcement difficulties became apparent. One person who was stopped explained that they were simply dialing a number, a common excuse that’s hard to disprove.
The Senator now wants to explore the possibility of making the state’s texting law more stringent. He intends to analyze current statute language to see what can be done to make it easier for law officers to crack down on offenders.