Texting ban heads to governor’s desk

Legislation to ban texting while driving is headed to the governor’s desk, after the Senate today approved SB 1274a, as amended in the House, on a 29-5 vote. The House added amendments to remove an exemption for law enforcement or emergency vehicles, and to specify that citations for texting while driving won’t count as penalty points on insurance. Sen. Les Bock, D-Boise, said, “I’ve been working on this bill for many years and we finally have a bill that I think is probably the best that has come along. I regret that we do not have the points aspect in the bill, but all things considered, after all the labors that we’ve put into this issue, I think this is a reasonably good bill, and I urge your aye vote.”

Senate Transportation Chairman Jim Hammond, R-Coeur d’Alene, sponsored this year’s bill; Idaho lawmakers have tried without success for the past three years to outlaw texting while driving. This year, an 18-year-old Idaho woman, Taylor Sauer, died in an Idaho freeway crash in January while texting; her family offered strong support for the bill at committee hearings in both houses.