Driving While Texting Will Earn You a Ticket In Kansas

On January 1, Kansas joins 29 other states in officially banning texting while driving. Police have been giving warnings for the past 6 months, but will now be handing out tickets from $150 and up if you are caught texting behind the wheel. E-mailing and instant messaging are also included in the ban. There are exceptions for reading emergency, weather related, or traffic related texts.

I always love the studies that are done on these types of things. Studies have shown that drivers who are texting are 23 times more likely to be involved in a crash. Other studies show that bans on texting and driving are not effective. So basically what we know from these studies is that we have a problem, and the government's solution to them is not working - Imagine that.

Like most laws, this is well meaning if not thoroughly thought out. It's also kind of lazy. Other States have passed these ineffective laws, so we will do so also - See voter, we are doing something to protect you. Legislators need to justify their existence and show the electorate they care and they are looking for solutions.

There are a couple of problems with this particular law. The first being enforcement. How can you be sure someone has violated the law? Maybe they were looking down at their phone for the time, how about directions? Is it any more dangerous to look at a piece of paper that has directions on it? What about the exceptions for Emergency, weather and traffic alerts? Can the officer confiscate your phone to see who or what you are reading?

The second problem is the lack of necessity of the law. There are already laws in place for Careless and Imprudent Driving whether the cause is simple stupidity or distraction of a cell phone, child, or whatever. A new law simply is not needed. What do you think?