House Passes Texting-While-Driving Measure
By Chris Hooks and Maurice Chammah
House Bill 63, which would make texting while driving a statewide criminal offense, passed the House by a 98-47 vote Wednesday, narrowly surviving multiple attempts to substantially weaken its provisions.
The bill, authored by Rep. Tom Craddick, R-Midland, would make it a misdemeanor to type on a handheld device to send an electronic message while behind the wheel. HB 63 would create a fine of up to $100 for first-time charges, and $200 for repeat offenses.
The bill now heads to the Senate. Similar measures have been vetoed by Gov. Rick Perry, and a two-thirds vote in each chamber would be required to override a potential veto of the current bill.
Craddick, who has introduced similar bills in the past, argued that his bill was a critically important safety measure, and he began his opening remarks by expressing regret over his past opposition to the state’s seat belt law.
“When the seat belt bill passed years ago, I voted against it,” he said. “I’m very sorry I did that. When I get in my car with my grandchildren now, the first thing they say is ‘buckle up.’”
Craddick also argued that the case for banning texting while driving was even stronger than the case for a mandatory seat belt law, which he said protects “a person from themselves.”
“This is to protect me from your driving,” he said. “There are people in the gallery today who have lost loved ones because of texting.” He added, “They’re saying 90 percent of the people in the state wear seat belts. And at the time we passed the seat belt law, it was like 27 percent.”
But the bill faced substantial resistance. Early on, supporters of the measure successfully defended the bill against two amendments that would prevent police officers from pulling over drivers if texting was the primary, or only, offense and the driver in question was obeying all other traffic laws.
The first was offered by Rep. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, who argued that the bill unnecessarily restricted the freedoms of Texans.
“While I am supportive of this bill, it’s very important that liberty not be sacrificed in the process,” he said. “I’m cognizant that [the bill] opens things up to a lot of subjection. And that could become an issue.”
That amendment was ultimately tabled by an 84-60 vote, but a similar amendment offered by Rep. Harold Dutton, D-Houston, received more support. Dutton argued that a ban on texting could be applied unequally across the state – and could provide an easy pretext for police officers to pull over drivers.
“I’m a little concerned that this will lead to people of color being stopped because an officer made an allegation that they were texting,” he said. “And there would be no basis with which to prove that.”
That amendment was initially tabled by a vote of 74-68.
Supporters of the measure argued vociferously against Perry’s and Dutton’s amendments. Rep. Patricia Harless, R-Spring, ridiculed the legal standard by applying it to other offenses.
“Let’s make an analogy,” she said. “If I’m over twice the legal limit, driving while intoxicated, and I’m not swerving in traffic, am I not a danger to others?”
Rep. José Menéndez, D-San Antonio, was harsher in his criticism.
“This really guts the bill,” he said of Dutton’s amendment. “The amendment is a joke. It says go ahead and text and drive.”
But an hour after his initial amendment failed, Dutton returned with an amendment almost identical to his previous one. Rep. Ryan Guillen, D-Rio Grande City, who had voted earlier to table Dutton’s amendment, had left the House floor, meaning that Dutton only needed three converts to change the outcome.
Supporters of the the original bill raised parliamentary objections about the effort, but couldn’t prevent the new amendment from coming to the floor. Amid shouts and cheers, a motion to table the amendment failed, 70-74, provoking renewed, extended debate about the merits of the amendment.
Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, reiterated that Dutton’s measure would prevent police officers from stopping drivers who have already committed an offense. But Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, presented the amendment as a crucial defense of Texans’ civil liberties.
“This amendment prevents police from going on a fishing expedition,” he said.
But the improbable comeback of Dutton’s measure ended with a tied vote, 72-72, killing the amendment.
Successful amendments to the bill included a measure that would prohibit police officers from taking a cellphone without the permission of a suspected texting driver, and one requiring a search warrant before demanding a cell service provider turns over cell records to law enforcement.
The bill would pre-empt local ordinances that have stricter prohibitions on cellphone use while driving, including those that prohibit all cellphone use, like Lubbock and Amarillo. Rep. Joe Pickett, D-El Paso, amended the bill to exempt the city of El Paso, which also has a total cellphone ban, from that pre-emption.
Reprinted by permission of The Texas Tribune.
