House Bill 35, the ban for texting while driving, has reached the Senate Judiciary Committee.  It was brought up last week and carried over to an unknown future date.  Three Senators have opposed the bill openly, most notably Rodger Smitherman of Jefferson County.  He is the President Pro Temp and we should focus our attention with him.

His contact information is…

            Email:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

            Phone: 

(334) 242-7870

He has expressed willingness to see the bill move forward if the violation becomes a secondary offense.  This is unacceptable.  As a secondary offense it would mean that to be charged with texting while driving, someone would also have to be committing another offense.  It would not lower the number of driver’s texting because there would be no fear of the punishment.  Further, if someone was actually charged with texting while driving, the texting fine would be added to the fine for the primary offense.  The goal is to achieve changed behavior, not to fleece the driver’s of Alabama.

Here are the points I believe to be the core elements of the bill and our goal:

            The law as a primary offense will…

·         Save Lives

·         Save money for the driver’s (it is not added to another offense)

·         According to a survey by Nationwide Insurance, immediately reduce the number of people texting while driving by 40%.

Please contact Mr. Smitherman, especially if you live or work in Jefferson County, and let him know that you support the bill as is and you would like to see it move to the Senate Floor for a vote.