Louisiana Lawmaker Wants Texting While Driving Fine Increased
Do you ever check your phone while you're driving? If you answered "No" you are in the vast minority or you have trouble distinguishing between the truth and a lie. Most of us are guilty.
A recent survey showed that one in three of us has admitted to texting and driving or checking social media and driving within the last ten days.
Senator Yvonne Dorsey-Colomb who represents the Baton Rouge area has filed a bill for the upcoming regular session of the legislature that would make you really think twice about checking your phone while you're behind the wheel. You might remember the good Senator. She is the one who forgot to reimburse tax payers for almost $20-thousand in campaign expenses.
Senator Dorsey-Colomb's proposal is to raise the fine for drivers distracted by telephones from $150 to $500. That's how you get people's attention.
Distracted driving, particularly illegal texting and the utilization of cell phones, is becoming a very, very difficult problem to address.
Those comments belong to Jim Champagne. Jim, a highway safety advocate, spoke to the Louisiana Radio Network about distracted driving in our state. In regards to the increase in fines, Champagne said that Louisiana still would have one of the lowest distracted driving fines in the nation. The state with the highest fine? That would be Alaska where the penalty for checking your phone while behind the wheel is $10-thousand dollars.
This bill will be one of many that legislators will consider when the regular session convenes on Monday March 14th. The current special session of the legislature is mandated to be over at 6 PM Wednesday March 9th.