It is a daily occurrence in my profession as a personal injury lawyer to see lives destroyed by unnecessary, preventable acts. But fewer things are more senseless and unnecessary than tragedies caused by texting while driving. Yet, as each year passes, texting plays a role in more and more of the cases my firm handles. Even in the most hyper-partisan of environments like the Texas Legislature, there seems to be a glimmer of hope to take positive steps to address this growing problem. Bipartisan support is building to ban texting while driving on a state wide level. Of course, such a ban will not immediately stop everyone from texting while driving. But like seatbelt laws, it can be the first big step in changing the actions of Texas drivers in regards to texting, and in the end, start saving lives. Considering that texting while driving has absolutely no redeemable value yet places lives at risk, a law banning it just makes sense.
So, please call your state representative and senator today and express your support for the Alex Brown Memorial Act. Do your part to help make Texas roadways safer. We can do better than the 507 deaths and 19,904 serious injuries on Texas roadways in 2013 due to driver distraction.
Here is a quick link to help you locate the contact information for your state representative and senator: http://www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us/Home.aspx
A statement from the bill’s sponsors can be found here.