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FENTON, MO (KTVI-FOX2now.com/Modified AP) -
This last Friday of the month is the first day for several new laws in Missouri. Among the new laws, home builders must now offer consumers the option of having fire sprinklers installed in their homes. To make a point about the new law, firefighters in Fenton, were 'burning down the house,' Friday morning. The firefighters at Engine House #1 demonstrated the value of an in home sprinkler system.
That is not the only new law effective beginning Friday. A new law bans texting while driving for those under age 21. Police will be on the lookout Friday for young drivers trying to text-message with one hand and steer with the other.
Missouri will join 22 other states with some sort of ban on sending, reading or writing text messages while driving. But the state Department of Transportation says only Missouri is singling out a particular age group.
The fine for texting-while-driving will be $200.
Patrol officers running radar guns are unlikely to know whether a teenager whizzing by also happens to be text-messaging, acknowledged Missouri State Highway Patrol Lt. John Hotz. The offense may be easier to spot if a trooper notices someone weaving over a yellow line or happens to glance through the window of a vehicle he or she is passing, Hotz said.
Other laws kicking in will close records in pending divorce cases, toughen funeral industry regulations and require anyone 17 and older to submit a DNA sample when arrested on suspicion of a violent crime, burglary or a sex offense.
That is not the only new law effective beginning Friday. A new law bans texting while driving for those under age 21. Police will be on the lookout Friday for young drivers trying to text-message with one hand and steer with the other.
Missouri will join 22 other states with some sort of ban on sending, reading or writing text messages while driving. But the state Department of Transportation says only Missouri is singling out a particular age group.
The fine for texting-while-driving will be $200.
Patrol officers running radar guns are unlikely to know whether a teenager whizzing by also happens to be text-messaging, acknowledged Missouri State Highway Patrol Lt. John Hotz. The offense may be easier to spot if a trooper notices someone weaving over a yellow line or happens to glance through the window of a vehicle he or she is passing, Hotz said.
Other laws kicking in will close records in pending divorce cases, toughen funeral industry regulations and require anyone 17 and older to submit a DNA sample when arrested on suspicion of a violent crime, burglary or a sex offense.
