June 19, 2013

Virginia bill to crack down on driver texting advances

BY: NAOMI JAGODA FEBRUARY 4, 2013 | 11:50 AM
Leave a comment

A Virginia Senate committed approved legislation on Monday that would greatly increase penalties for texting while driving.

Under the current law, drivers caught texting in the commonwealth can receive $20 fines the first time they are cited and they receive a $50 fine if they are subsequently caught texting behind the wheel. Additionally, drivers can only be cited for texting while driving if a police officer stops them for another violation. 

But proposed legislation would allow police to stop and ticket anyone whom they see texting while driving and would increase drivers’ fines. Under the bill endorsed Monday by the Senate Courts of Justice Committee, the first time motorists are caught texting behind the wheel, they would receive a $250 fine. The second time someone is caught, they would receive a $500 fine. 

A House of Delegates committee has already approved legislation that would make the same changes to texting-while-driving penalties.

View article comments Leave a comment

More from washingtonexaminer.com

From the Weekly Standard

  • Frack to the Future

    Williston, N.D.

    Read More...
  • Downsize Ike

    The beleaguered Eisenhower Memorial Commission holds its next public gathering later this month, and before its members duck-walk into the hearing room, huddled in a hoplite phalanx against a...

    Read More...
  • The Lesson of Kermit Gosnell

    What was the lesson of the Kermit Gosnell trial? Since the Philadelphia doctor was convicted last month of murdering three born-alive infants, two competing viewpoints have emerged.

    Read More...