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Published: Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2010 / Updated: Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2010 02:04 PM

Texting while driving may soon be illegal in S.C.

LAKE WYLIE -- 

Whether cell phone use by drivers is illegal depends on which state they’re driving in. But a proposed law in South Carolina could bring the Carolinas closer together in banning certain cell phone uses.

South Carolina moved forward with a bill last week that could make texting while driving illegal statewide, a practice that’s already restricted throughout North Carolina.

The bill has moved out of the Senate Judiciary sub-committee, and state Sen. Mick Mulvaney said Monday that the full Senate Judiciary Committee could begin debate as early as this afternoon, Feb. 16.

“I don’t think the final text has been set yet,” said Mulvaney, judiciary committee member representing parts of York and Lancaster counties.

Two Senate bills deal with cell phone use. One proposal would make cell phone use while driving illegal for anyone younger than 18 except in emergency situations, with violations resulting in a $50 misdemeanor.

The other proposal would make text messaging or other cell phone uses illegal while driving for all motorists. Until the wording comes up for vote, anything can be changed, Mulvaney said.

“It’s one of the issues of the day,” he said. “It’s the bandwagon everybody wants to be on right now, to be against texting while driving.”

A new law could align laws in communities that border the state line, like Lake Wylie and Fort Mill, with those in North Carolina. However, Mulvaney said that reason alone should not affect the decisions made by lawmakers.

“I don’t think just because North Carolina does something that we have to do it,” he said.

In December of last year, a new North Carolina law made texting while driving illegal, along with other “additional technology” from cell phones, including the use of a camera, e-mail, music, the Internet or games. Exceptions are made for law enforcement and emergency responders. Anyone younger than 18 also is not allowed to talk on a cell phone. Enforcement of that law began in 2006.

“In a nutshell, no one can text, e-mail or the like from a mobile device and no one under the age of 18 can talk on the cell phone unless it is a parent/guardian or 911,” said Brian Hofert, Response Area 3 coordinator with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Steele Creek Division.

Violations of the texting law in North Carolina can result in a $100 fine plus court costs, but no drivers license points or insurance surcharge. The 18 and younger law results in a $25 penalty, with no court costs, drivers license points or insurance surcharge.

David Vickers, an Allstate agent in Lake Wylie, believes limiting or illegalizing distractions on the road would be a positive step for any state, and would help driving locally.

According to statistics from his company, texting accounts for 330,000 distracted driving injuries annually, including an average of 11 teen deaths daily. Texting makes a driver 23 times more likely to crash, according to the company, and equates to having four beers before driving.

“It takes your eyes off the road, on average, for five seconds at a time and travelling at 55 miles an hour, that’s like driving the length of a football field completely blind,” Vickers said.

State Sen. Wes Hayes, who is not a member of the committee or subcommittee debating the bill so far, said there is a “good chance” the full Senate could take up this issue this year.

“I haven’t been directly involved,” Hayes said Monday. “I do think there’s been a growing support for a bill to ban texting while driving. We’re going to have a short session this year, and there are a lot of bills ahead of that bill, so I don’t know whether we’ll get to it this year or not. I’d say there’s a good chance.”