JEFFERSON COUNTY, MO (KTVI - FOX2now.com)—
Come Friday, driving-while-texting, may get you a ticket in Missouri. But the new texting ban only applies to drivers 21 years old or younger. Violators face fines from $25-$200 and up to 2 points against their driving records. Like the state senator who sponsored the ban, young drivers don't think the ban goes far enough.
In less than a half hour at the Clarkson / Clayton road intersection, a FOX 2 camera caught driver after driver looking down to text, looking up to peek at traffic, then looking back down to text, as they drove.With the new law coming, students in the Rockwood School District's Drivers' Education course have been now getting earfuls about texting while driving.
"The research has shown driving while texting is equivalent to driving while intoxicated at a .08 level or higher, so it really slows down you're reaction time," said Rockwood Drivers' Education teacher, Allyn Workman.
His students supported the ban, vowed to keep their phones out of sight while driving, but said they saw the same thing our camera did: the worst offenders aren't necessarily under 21.
"I saw some girl stick her hands through the two things [spokes of the steering wheel] and her hand was above the steering wheel doing it, on the road," said driving student, Jessica Patterson.
"I think it should be like all ages," added driving student, Colleen O'Connell.
"Yeah, I don't think it matters what age you are," said driving student, Lindsay Mansker.
"They've also said with the research, if you look away from your driving focus for two seconds, which is about what it takes to look at your cell phone or look at your text messages, you lose your driving focus by about 90%," Workman said. "That's the message we hope the kids get here, this is going to be a lifetime learning thing we're talking about. This isn't going to be for a short period of time...stopping it at 21 and under, I'm not sure that's going to be the best answer for us."
"If I had it my way it would have become law the way the senate originally passed it 32-2 without any age restriction," McKenna said.
He said state representatives inserted the age restriction to help get it passed. Senator McKenna said he'll try to extend the ban to all drivers, in the next legislative session.
