Our state lawmakers are currently working on a bill that would allow law enforcement to stop a motorist for texting while driving.

Right now, authorities can pull over teenagers for texting while operating a vehicle, but for adults, texting can’t be the sole reason why someone gets pulled over.

District 24 State Senator Jerry Behn says they passed in the Senate a bill that would change the current law to allow for anyone to be pulled over at any time for texting while driving but with a few exceptions.

He states that a driver is allowed to use a mobile navigation system while operating a vehicle.  Behn questions the legality of that situation.

“But if you’re looking down at it, how’s an officer going to know whether you’re looking down at your GPS device or whether you’re looking down at your phone, if you weave a little bit, they can stop you.  I think it’s going to make it very, very difficult to enforce.”

Another exception the bill allows for are hands-free texting devices which Behn believes could result in a difficult time for someone to prove that they spoke a text rather than typing a text out while driving.

The other piece of the bill is it would raise the level of the fine from a scheduled fine to a moving violations which Behn notes can result in someone losing their license if they receive a texting violation along with another violation.

Behn comments that he agrees with the concept of not texting while driving, but he believes the bill that was passed by the Senate creates more headaches than relief for law enforcement agencies.

He adds that there was bipartisan support for the bill in the Senate, but he hopes that the House can make some corrections and send it back to the Senate for acceptance with their revisions.