The South Dakota Legislature missed its chance this year to outlaw the dangerous practice of texting while driving. The House Local Government Committee rejected the bill, 8-5. House Speaker Val Rausch thought lawmakers could write a better bill to encompass other forms of distracted driving.
How long should we wait before someone is killed by this dangerous practice? Or has it happened already? Reading a text message while driving was at the center of at least one recent accidental death trial in South Dakota.
Will a life or lives be taken by this dangerous practice while we’re waiting for that “better bill” to be introduced and passed? Studies show drivers who text are 23 times more likely to be in an accident. That makes this more a question of “when” than “if.”
The state legislature should act on this measure before it is enacted by Congress, just as the blood alcohol limit was lowered by mandate in order to accept federal highway funds. The Governors Highway Safety Association reports that 30 states already ban texting while driving. Alabama will be number 31 if the measure, which passed their House by an 86-2 vote on March 31, is passed by their state senate. South Dakota should step up and be #32.
South Dakota shouldn’t wait. Let’s not wait another year for someone to be killed by this practice and lives to be destroyed before we take action. I don’t want this to happen to someone you or I know. There’s too much at stake. It’s too likely to happen.
David L. Stoltz
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