by KYW's Tony Romeo
The Pennsylvania state Senate has passed and sent to the House a bill that would make texting while driving a "secondary" offense.
The state House several months ago passed a bill that made texting, the use of handheld cell phones, and other “distracted driving” activities a secondary offense –- meaning you have to be pulled over for something else before being cited.
The bill passed by the Senate makes only texting while driving a secondary offense. That’s because the sponsor, state senator Tommy Tomlinson (R-Bucks County), says he doesn’t think there are enough votes to go farther -- much as he, personally, would like to:
“People will argue that ‘I’m looking at the road, I can handle the wheel and I can handle the cell phone.’ I disagree with that, but I don’t know that I’ve got the votes that can overcome those objections.”
Tomlinson says he clearly wanted to establish that texting is a serious distraction, and if he can get this bill to the governor’s desk he’ll be happy to work on adding other distractions to the list of offenses later.
(File photo)
E-Mail Story
Print Story
