Texas Legislature House Bill 55 gives its cities and counties the choice (keyword there) of whether or not to ban cell phone usage in designated school zones.

In order for this to be enforced, signs must be posted. In addition, to be fined (which is $200 per infraction), the cell phone must be to your ear and your vehicle must be in motion. This means hands-free devices are acceptable and/or if you’re stopped, that’s okay also.

There are few instances I can cite where a bill is written correctly the first time; this is one of them. It’s fair, and the fact Texas is giving its cities and towns the choice of whether to enforce it is even better.

Big kudos to the Lone Star State for this one. Job well done.

Ordinarily I am not for a national US-wide ban of anything, as I do believe that each individual state should make their own laws concerning how they handle things.

But not on this issue.

I’m going to say this flat out: If you text while you drive, you’re an idiot. It is one of the dumbest things you could possibly do behind the wheel of a car.

If you’re caught doing it, my solution would be simple. The officer takes your wireless device, puts it on the ground, smashes it with a crowbar, fines you $500 for being stupid, then tells you to have a nice day and drive safe. And yes, you deserve to have that happen to you if you text while you drive. Better to have your phone smashed and your wallet hurt than kill someone else because while texting you ran a red light and t-boned another car.

If you can believe it, the major wireless carriers more or less oppose a ban of this type. They believe better driver education will solve this problem. Wrong, wrong and wrong again. There is no amount of education that will curb this issue whatsoever. What people will listen to more than anything else are stiff fines.

There is absolutely nobody that could ever convince me that there is ever a "safe" time to text while driving. It should be illegal to do anywhere in the US, period.

Do you see texting while driving where you live?

Don’t you get a really nervous feeling whenever you see anyone doing it, knowing how dumb it is?

What’s your state law(s) concerning wireless device use in a motor vehicle?

Do you think what’s on the books now is fair or not? Does your state even have laws concerning wireless phones in motor vehicles at all?