UPDATED: Gov. Corbett Signs Bill Banning Texting While Driving

Editor's Note: This story was updated at 12:08 p.m. to include local reaction.

Gov. Tom Corbett on Wednesday signed legislation that bans texting while driving on Pennsylvania roads.

The new law, which makes texting while driving a primary offense carrying a $50 fine, takes effect 120 calendar days from Wednesday.

“Senate Bill 314 aims to put a halt to texting from behind the wheel and is intended to save lives,” Corbett said during a bill-signing event in suburban Harrisburg. “No text message is worth a human life. The message of this legislation is drive now and text later.”

The new law specifically does the following:

• Prohibits as a primary offense all drivers from using an Interactive Wireless Communication Device to send, read or write a text-based message.
• Defines an IWCD as a wireless phone, personal digital assistant, smart phone, portable or mobile computer or similar devices that can be used for texting, instant messaging, emailing or browsing the Internet.
• Defines a text-based message as a text message, instant message, email or other written communication composed or received on an IWCD.
• Institutes a $50 fine for convictions under this section.
• Makes clear that this law supersedes and preempts any local ordinances restricting the use of interactive wireless devices by drivers.

In 2010, there were almost 14,000 crashes in Pennsylvania where distracted
driving played a role, with nearly 1,100 of those crashes involving a handheld
cellular phone, according to the governor's office.

“We’ve said it in the past, but today, we are making it law: if you have an urgent
need to text, you must pull over and park," Corbett said. "If it’s not important enough to stop your car, then it’s certainly not important enough to risk a life."

lauded the move.

"While I think all types of activities draws drivers attention away from the primary focus of driving should be addressed in the bill, I am glad we finally made a first step in starting to make roads safer for everyone with the texting ban," he said.

State Rep. Jesse White called it "common sense."

"This is common-sense legislation designed to make our roads safer for drivers and passengers alike. Recent tragic local accidents have confirmed what we already know, that texting while driving can be deadly," he said. "There is a reason over 90 percent of Pennsylvanians agree that texting while driving should be illegal, and I'm glad to finally see this bill signed into law."