Filed by Michael Cross in Art & Life, Feature, Local News, News.
October 8, 2009

State lawmakers are gathering in the Public Safety Committee meeting Thursday to discuss legislation to ban the use of text messaging behind the wheel.

Studies show 20% of adults in the U-S admit to texting while driving, but that number jumps to 50% for drivers between the age of 18 and 24.

People who are texting increase their reaction time by up to 35% and steering control goes down by up to 91%.

Also, younger drivers take their eyes off the road 400% more often than their peers just to text message.

And, some studies show texting behind the wheel is more dangerous than drunk driving.

So, Republican Representative Sue Tibbs of Tulsa and Democratic Minority Leader Danny Morgan of Prague are teaming up to create legislation to ban the practice.

Representative Morgan started looking at just banning the practice for younger drivers, but says he realized it’s become an epidemic.

Opponents argue there’s already a distracted driver law on the books, but Morgan says it’s ineffective when it comes to texting.

Another argument against the texting law is that the government shouldn’t get involved in what drivers do behind the wheel.