If we had the lowest unemployment and foreclosure rate, the top ranked K-12 education system, the best public two and four-year institutions, the lowest infant mortality rate, etc. in the country, I would favor this bill. I would have to cope. Instead, we are backwards on all counts. But hey, at least still I can clean my handgun while driving to the nearest bar to get hammered. Because nothing bad ever happens when you mix booze and firearms. Nothing at all.

I love Tennessee dearly and deeply, but I cannot for the life of me figure out how we have derived our legislative priorities. Was this really what the new majority wanted to rush in and “fix”?

I can't believe people need a law to tell them that it's selfish and irresponsible to text while driving. I have a feeling these same people will still be doing it, but at least, if they are caught, they can now be prosecuted.

But what is so awesome about this, is that they cannot prove that you were texting and not dialing a phone number or dialing in your favorite song on your mp3 player.

I understand why they did it because I drive past this person every morning on the commute in: head buried in their lap typing in some long message when next thing they know they're about to rear-end the car that has stopped in front of them.

Will I comply? Probably not.

So, I can still read my very important text messages at stop signs and red lights?

Inconvenient, but I guess it's necessary… I definitely trust myself to do it safely, but not so much others. Can we get it added to the Driver Ed curriculum (is there one here?), along with merging on to the interstate without getting in a 12-car pileup and not going 55 in the far-left lane? No? Oh fine.

I'm glad to hear it!! Today I saw a girl driving while texting.. while turning left. She actually paused in the middle of the intersection, and had I been paying less attention I could have hit her since I had a green light.

Actually…if I'm really being honest, I'm glad it is a law now. When I first got in to texting, I was constantly yelling at my sisters for texting while driving, then I found myself starting to do it. I know…I know. So, I guess that there are legal consequences, not just the obvious ones of possibly getting killed, mamed, or hurting someone else…if that makes sense. :)

ALTHOUGH…I think it's ridiculous that they've banned texting while driving but not having open containers of alcohol in the car. I was driving down the road the other day, and as this guy in front of me was turning into Kroger, as I was passing him, I saw him drinking a can of beer. I was SHOCKED! Seriously! What do we do at that point? Do we call and report him, or just let it slide? Thoughts?

I have to agree… reluctantly. I have to admit, I'm a huge texter-and-driver, but every time I have to slam on my brakes or nearly get hit by someone ELSE who is texting, I vow to stop doing it. Then I just HAVE to respond to something… and the cycle continues. I know it's not safe and hopefully I'll find the law a more compelling reason to stop.

I don't know about Driver's Ed, but I had to go to traffic school recently (does it make it any better if it was my first ticket ever?!) and my instructor probably spent a half an hour telling us not to text and drive. Then we learned that a heavily caffeinated driver exhibits the same signs of impairment as one on speed. Helpful!

That's my hangup as well. I have an iPod jack in my car, which I hold down in my lap and it glows similarly to a cell phone. Am I going to get pulled over because someone thought I was texting? Or is that already covered under the distracted driving law?
That said, I know it's dangerous and I'm already trying to stop so that I don't total my car or something. I'll probably just end up making more phone calls instead of sending texts while I'm driving now.

I understand the reasoning behind it, but it's completely unenforceable. As someone else said there is no way to prove what you were reading and/or typing. Anyone who gets pulled over and accused will just say “I was typing in a phone number” or “I was answering a call”.

There is no required state-wide drivers ed. You just have to pass the test to get a license. No class.

You can still read and send texts, twitter, etc at stoplights or any other time your car is stopped. According to this bill however, you can still browse the web at 70 MPH, so long as no two-way messaging of any kind is involved. Twitter, email, and text are out though.

And yes, everything in this bill (plus a whole lot more) was already covered under existing distracted driver laws (along with changing songs on your iPod, reading the paper, etc)

This bill was poorly written waste of time and tax payer money.

It was already illegal. See my comment above.

this type of law is ridiculous – even the distracted driver law and seatbelt laws. they are in place for a very understandable reason, and i can't argue with that. they hope to curb accidental car deaths and accidents. my problem is that it costs so much of the taxpayers' money for an officer to pull over one of these “offenders” when someone that's weaving in and out of traffic nearly ramming everyone is driving right by. come on – where's the common sense? i don't need some asinine law or ruling to tell me how to be a good citizen.

better yet! build a connected, fast, affordable, and reliable network of public transit so that those who want to spend their commute in twittering about how tasty their Panera bagel is or reading the day's headlines on their PDA….. can. There are some buses which are slow and don't connect anywhere in the city and yeah there's the Nashville Star – which a ticket for the week is more expensive than just filling my gas tank up and paying for parking at my destination. I'm talking about a local elevated rail/train system. Lets see that.

Absolutely ridiculous. You can carry a gun into a bar, but God forbid you let your friend know you're running late. Give me a damn break.

Let's see, since driving, operating and riding in a motor vehicle is the single most dangerous thing people do on a daily basis (and let's not forget carrying cargo like .. i don't know, an infant) some people are upset that a law has been passed that tries to make them pay more attention to the road, what they are doing and what others are doing rather than remove a hand from the wheel, look down, read and understand what was sent to them, concentrate on pushing tiny buttons or (worse) a touch screen, read what they typed, correct errors, send and resend again. All the while barreling down I65 at 80 mph where a split second can be life or death. And operating an iPod isn't that much safer.

If you think you are just that good that you can safely text and drive then you are either delusional or an idiot. I text and Twitter as much as the next person but recognize its dangers while driving. Not to mention the fact that adding an unexperienced teenage driver to the mix makes it that much worse. I just hope the police will actually enforce it. There would be more public safety if the cops would set up texting traps rather than speed traps.

I'm glad the Nashvillest readers have taken up such quite a lovely discussion on the matter. Honestly I can't wait to read about how how many times this will be a reason to pull someone over. I equate it with pulling someone over and giving them a ticket for not wearing a seatbelt. This law will be completely impossible to enforce. Even if I was truly texting while I was driving and they pulled me over for it, do they not know how quickly I can change my phone screen to make it look like I was making a call? Even if I had sent a text, I can just as quickly delete the chat thread (thanks iPhone) to make it appear that I wasn't. I don't often text while driving but I'd like to see these jokers give me a ticket for it.

Given the rise of traffic accidents related to texting, I think this one is a no-brainer…

While I have no problem with the new law, I find it ridiculous that non-hands-free cell phone use is still allowed while driving. People do the dumbest things on the road when they're on the phone. In fact, this law specifically says it's OK to look at your phone and type to make calls. Very short sighted IMO.

I'm of two minds here. I really try not to ever text while driving (often to my friends' chagrin) because yeah, we all know it's unsafe. I've been in close calls with people while they were texting, which reinforces my thinking. I understand why some people really, really supported it.

But you can't legislate against stupidity (try as they might, as we can all bear witness) and I'm also not in favor of redundant laws.

Overall I agree it's unenforceable and it'll be interesting to see what happens as a result in a post-July-1 world.

I'm against. This is over regulation. DUI laws make sense but signaling out one lesser distraction among putting on makeup, loud music, rowdy passengers, tiredness, eating, etc does not make sense.

Yes people could die from these things, but safety is about negating a number of factors because you value a community. It can't be forced unless it obviously should be against the law.

When you get in a car you are accepting the risks of all the possibilities that could happen.

yeah, what about dialing a phone # while driving?

I think the idea is good, that texting while driving is not a good idea. But I heard a couple of months ago that they looked into it and realized it was already illegal. So why waste time on a new bill?

Uh, nice strawman argument there.

I'm glad it's a law. I've had multiple people almost hit me and when I see them, they are texting. I've also had multiple friends text while driving when I was in the car and almost get into accidents… and the few times I've done it, I know I wasn't driving as well as I normally would, which is why I've stopped doing it and I won't respond to texts while driving.

I'd rather people pick up their phone and call someone while driving, because it takes less time to dial than text while driving, and they can at least look at the road while talking on a phone.

I'm VERY glad for this law. I think texting while driving is very dangerous. And I think it will at least make a few people more careful about it.

And if you are texting, I would imagine that they can prove it by going to the cell phone company (or just looking in your phone) and seeing what times you sent texts and compare it to the time you were pulled over.

No one is going to honestly comply with this law. There are plenty of other things people do in their cars that cause accidents – Tennessee cannot regulate stupidity and poor driving.

It's always been illegal, see “reckless driving”. Just more specific now, lower consequences, and higher frequency since you don't have to be caught swerving while texting, just driving.

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I do think it was a good idea but how are the cops going to distinguish when we're making a call and when we're sending a text?? I don't think they'll be able to enforce this without just banning cell phone use entirely while operating a vehicle. and yes, WHAT ABOUT TWITTER?!?! I know the Gov. doesn't tweet but if he did, he would have re-thought this bill. heehee.

I do think it was a good idea but how are the cops going to distinguish when we're making a call and when we're sending a text?? I don't think they'll be able to enforce this without just banning cell phone use entirely while operating a vehicle. and yes, WHAT ABOUT TWITTER?!?! I know the Gov. doesn't tweet but if he did, he would have re-thought this bill. heehee.

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