Virginia’s New Texting & Driving Law In Place

With the new law that went into effect yesterday, you can now get pulled over and fined for texting while driving in the state of Virginia. Until now, texting or emailing while driving was considered a secondary offense, meaning that it was illegal, but the police needed another reason to pull you over before ticketing you for texting.

Many legal experts say that the law is not fully developed, and that the law may be difficult to enforce. Under the new law drivers cannot “manually enter multiple letters or texts” while driving, or “read any email or text messages transmitted to the device,” drivers are still allowed to make phone calls and get directions from a phone’s GPS. Experts feel that the difficulty deciphering between texting and these allowable acts will prove difficult, and the burden of proof will be a problem.

Despite being a work in progress, the move towards banning texting and driving on our roadways is a good one. The number of accidents caused by texting and driving and other distracted driving actions is stunning. As Car Accident Lawyers, we see our fair share of senseless tragedies caused by distracted driving, and each is a tragedy. If this law can prevent even one auto accident related death, then it is a success.

We look forward to seeing this law develop, and hopefully stop auto accidents and save lives in the process. In the mean time, it is at the very least a reminder to think twice before sending that text on the roadways. Remember, no text message is worth taking a life. Drive safe, and keep your eyes on the road!