Midland City Council Chooses To Support A Bill That Would Ban Texting And Driving Across The State
By: Matthew Farrell
Updated: December 18, 2012
MIDLAND -- There is no doubt the roads in West Texas are more dangerous now than they have been in the past.
Even so, the small town of Coahoma is the only Permian Basin town to enact a texting and driving ban.
Now, Representative Tom Craddick wants to take some of the guesswork out of where texting and driving is banned, and Midland city councilmembers say that's beneficial to everyone.
Councilman John James believes that everyone should be following the same rules as they drive "from county to county to county."
Councilman Scott Dufford believes that as our roads become more crowded in Midland, texting and driving is causing more deadly situations.
"If you're driving 55 miles per hour, that means you've travelled the entire length of a football field and you don't even know how you got there, because you aren't watching your surroundings and that can cause accidents," Dufford said.
The problem, according to Mayor Wes Perry, is enforcement.
"It's almost impossible. At some point in time there'll be extenuating circumstances that they'll be able to write tickets for and maybe they'll come up with some solutions, but as i've looked at it, it's a hard problem," Perry said.
He believes enforcement is not the goal.
If the house passes a statewide ban, Perry hopes that people will now realize how big a problem texting and driving has become, hopefully causing them to change their ways.
"It's truly to start that education process that this is a very dangerous activity; some say worse than drinking while driving and there needs to be a law against it. Maybe that will bring our attention more to solving this problem because it has, it's become a big problem," Perry continued.
The city council did not make any decisions regarding texting and driving Tuesday.
The point of the excercise was to send their support to Representative Craddick, hopefully adding some weight to house bill 63.
Even so, the small town of Coahoma is the only Permian Basin town to enact a texting and driving ban.
Now, Representative Tom Craddick wants to take some of the guesswork out of where texting and driving is banned, and Midland city councilmembers say that's beneficial to everyone.
Councilman John James believes that everyone should be following the same rules as they drive "from county to county to county."
Councilman Scott Dufford believes that as our roads become more crowded in Midland, texting and driving is causing more deadly situations.
"If you're driving 55 miles per hour, that means you've travelled the entire length of a football field and you don't even know how you got there, because you aren't watching your surroundings and that can cause accidents," Dufford said.
The problem, according to Mayor Wes Perry, is enforcement.
"It's almost impossible. At some point in time there'll be extenuating circumstances that they'll be able to write tickets for and maybe they'll come up with some solutions, but as i've looked at it, it's a hard problem," Perry said.
He believes enforcement is not the goal.
If the house passes a statewide ban, Perry hopes that people will now realize how big a problem texting and driving has become, hopefully causing them to change their ways.
"It's truly to start that education process that this is a very dangerous activity; some say worse than drinking while driving and there needs to be a law against it. Maybe that will bring our attention more to solving this problem because it has, it's become a big problem," Perry continued.
The city council did not make any decisions regarding texting and driving Tuesday.
The point of the excercise was to send their support to Representative Craddick, hopefully adding some weight to house bill 63.
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