Denton Texas Bans Texting While Driving Via New Ordinance

By Rasansky McKenzie

The Denton City Council is currently considering legislation which would effectively ban texting while driving.

UPDATE (12/07/2016) — Denton City Council has now banned ALL handheld use of electronic devices while driving. This new “hands-free” law will go into effect June 1st, 2017.
UPDATE (05/07/2014) — Denton City Council has unanimously voted 7-0 to ban texting while driving. The new law will go into effect June 5th, 2014, with a 30-day grace period before ticketing begins.
Seen as a danger to other road users, texting while driving has been shown to increase the likelihood of car accidents. This ban would also include other phone activities outside of texting such as surfing the internet and sending emails.

Public education campaigns.

City council officials are also looking into initiating public sensitization and education campaigns to help educate people about the dangers of texting and phone use while driving. The ordinance, if drafted, will have to go through the formal council for debating and final vote. However, this new legislation is a slimmed down version of an earlier law which was wider in its reach.
In October 2013, the council initiated debate around this issue and came up with a report in conjunction with relevant authorities who highlighted the effects of distracted driving as well as the resultant crashes and injuries associated with the act. The city council also ran a survey to find out the public’s opinion on the matter. Out of the people who were surveyed, 190 favored a total ban, while 146 were against it. Individuals who voted “no” cited various issues such as enforcement and emergency calls which come through while driving.
The city also produced various crash reports from other cities which had enforced a similar piece of legislation to support their ban. However, Denton Chief of Police, Lee Howell, noted that these cities hadn’t had their no-texting ban for a requisite amount of time to prove if they were effective or not. Texas as a state doesn’t have a texting while driving ban at the moment (although almost 100 cities in Texas do), but recent polls show that the majority of Texans support such a ban.

Distracted driving is a major cause of accidents.

Distracted driving is one of the biggest causes of accidents on American roads. Drivers who don’t pay attention to the road for one reason or the other are a danger unto themselves and other road users. If you’ve been in a car accident which was caused by someone else, please call Rasansky | McKenzie Law at (214) 651-6100. We have a team of experienced Dallas car accident attorneys ready to represent you every step of the way. You can also send us a message via our online form 24 hours a day.

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