Texting Ban Approved by Oklahoma House

A proposed texting-while-driving ban has been approved by Oklahoma’s House of Representatives.

Under the conditions of the ban, texting would be disallowed for anyone driving in school zones, and prohibits motorists below the age of eighteen no matter where they are.

The measure, which was written by Representative Danny Morgan (Prague) was approved in a 9-7 vote by the House Public Safety Committee and sent on for consideration by the full House.

According to Morgan, the use of hand-held devices to compose, read, or send text messages has been statistically proven to be dangerous when it’s done at the same time as driving a car. Law enforcement data says it has caused many fatal auto accidents throughout the state.

Nevertheless, some members of the committee are concerned about how police and highway patrol officers will enforce the measure. Representative Fred Jordan (Jenks) believes laws already on the books allowing officers to pull over cars for weaving already cover the texting issue.