Texas Governor Signs Law Banning Texting While Driving

AUSTIN, TX — Distracted driving is nothing to LOL about, blamed for the deaths of hundreds and thousands more injured each year. On Tuesday, the governor signed a law designed to stem the tide by signing the anti-texting measure dubbed House Bill 62 a reality.

Effective Sept. 1, the law will dictate that drivers not use a telephone to "read, write or send an electronic message while operating a motor vehicle unless the vehicle is stopped." Violators will be subject to fines ranging from $25 to $99.

Up to Abbott's bill signing, Texas was one of four states lacking a general texting ban behind the steering wheel. Efforts to pass similar legislation have failed in the past, most recently in earnest during 2011 when the measure passed the Legislature only to be vetoed by former Gov. Rick Perry.

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13 Dead, 3 Injured In Central Texas Church Bus Crash; Police ID Deceased

By grim coincidence, lawmakers passed the measure this year in the wake of the deadliest distracted driving incidents on record. In late March, a 20-year-old male driver texting while driving slammed into a church bus filled with senior as they traveled along Highway 83 near Garner State Park. The impact killed 13 people ranging in age from 61 to 87, while the driver causing the deadly wreck survived.

According to the Texas Department of Transportation, 455 people were killed and more than 3,000 seriously injured in the state during 2016 in vehicle crashes blamed on distracted driving.

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