Texting Ban Heads to Governor’s Desk

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ Sending or reading text messages while driving would be outlawed in Texas under a bill passed by legislature and headed for Gov. Rick Perry’s desk.

Lawmakers late Sunday approved the ban on texting while driving as a midnight deadline approached. Drivers caught texting or emailing on their phones can be fined upward of $200.

Republican Rep. Tom Craddick sold the proposal as a public-safety measure, but the bill triggered more than a half-hour of debate on the House floor. Opponents said the bill would amount to criminalizing drivers simply for receiving a text message while driving.

San Antonio and El Paso already have laws forbidding texting while driving, and at least 30 other states have enacted similar statewide bans.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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