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New York senator aims to ban texting while driving

A fatal car accident involving four teens prompts a government official to ask for new regulations that would bar anyone from texting while driving.

New York Senator Carl Marcellino
SenatorMarcellino.com

A New York state senator has recently proposed a bill that would make it illegal to send a text message while driving in the state. The proposal from Senator Carl Marcellino was made in response to a fatal car accident involving four New York state teens. Police believe the driver, a recent high-school grad, was text messaging a friend before crashing into an oncoming trailer and killing all four in the vehicle.

A recent study shows that almost half of all teens send text messages while driving, making the odds considerably high for this kind of accident. The senator's bill, S.3195, would ban the writing, sending or reading of text messages on mobile phones while driving.

"Talking on cell phones isn't the only distraction that causes distracted driving. The explosion of text messaging has created a new problem," Marcellino said in a statement. "Now is the time to end texting while driving before more of our young people become victims of distracted driving."

Seems like only a matter of time before this kind of legislation shows up in more states.