12-13-2011, 09:16 PM
silvarios wrote:
I could have sworn Maryland (my state of residence) had distracted driving laws already on the books. Am I wrong? I could have sworn they were referenced when I attended driving school years ago). Not sure why there is a push to keep adding specific bans instead of enforcing the laws already available.
"Distracted driving" laws do already exist. But they don't discourage people from engaging in risky behavior like texting while driving. There has to be a primary enforcement element - i.e. you can get a ticket for texting while driving, whether you have caused an accident or not. The officer just has to see you doing it, and of course your texting is easily verifiable in court with cell phone records. Without this, distracted driving laws do little to promote general safety but are just a mechanism for charging drivers after they've caused the accident. (A mechanism that is easy to defeat in court, BTW, because the legal definition of "distracted" is so vague.)