Troopers Set to Kick Off National Texting Enforcement Crackdown
Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Joins Anti-Texting Effort to Save Lives
MONTGOMERY — From April 10 to 15, law enforcement personnel will use a combination of traditional and innovative strategies to crack down on motorists who text while driving. This effort is part of a national campaign called U Drive. U Text. U Pay. A high-visibility enforcement initiative, it blends intense enforcement of anti-texting laws with advertising and media outreach to notify motorists of the initiative and convince them to obey the law.
“Not only is driving and texting irresponsible, but it is illegal,” said Col. John E. Richardson, director of the Alabama Department of Public Safety, a division of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency. “People who break Alabama’s texting law will be stopped and fined. It’s simple: If you drive and text, you will pay.”
Violating Alabama’s texting law, which became effective Aug. 1, 2012, can be costly. (Copy of law is attached.) The fine for the first citation is $25, with fines jumping to $50 for the second violation and $75 for the third or subsequent violation.
In 2013 across the nation, 3,154 people were killed and an estimated additional 424,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers.
According to a 2014 special article in the New England Journal of Medicine, the risk of a crash or near-crash among novice drivers increased with the performance of many secondary tasks, including texting and dialing cell phones.
“Some people may say texting while driving is an epidemic. Well, we believe enforcing our state’s texting law is part of the cure,” Richardson said.
The U Drive. U Text. U Pay. campaign is national in scope, and it has qualified for and received approximately $8.4 million in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation to support this and other efforts designed to fight distracted driving.
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Section 32-5A-350
Definitions; prohibited activities; fines; exceptions.
(a) For purposes of this article, the following words have the following meanings:
(1) WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATION DEVICE. A handheld cellular telephone, a text-messaging device, a personal digital assistant, a stand alone computer, or any other similar wireless device that is readily removable from a vehicle and is used to write, send, or read text or data through manual input. The term “wireless telecommunication device” does not include a device which is voice-operated and which allows the user to send or receive a text-based communication without the use of either hand except to activate or deactivate a feature or function.
(2) WRITE, SEND, OR READ A TEXT-BASED COMMUNICATION. Using a wireless telecommunication device to manually communicate with any person using text-based communication, including, but not limited to, communications referred to as a text message, instant message, or electronic mail. The term does not include reading, selecting, or entering a telephone number or name in a cell or wireless telephone or communication device for the purpose of making a telephone call.
(b) A person may not operate a motor vehicle on a public road, street, or highway in Alabama while using a wireless telecommunication device to write, send, or read a text-based communication.
(c) A person who violates subsection (b) is subject to fines as follows:
(1) Twenty-five dollars ($25) for a first violation.
(2) Fifty dollars ($50) for a second violation.
(3) Seventy-five dollars ($75) for a third or subsequent violation.
(d) Law enforcement officers enforcing this section may treat a violation of this section as the primary or sole reason for issuing a citation to a driver.
(e) The following uses of wireless communication devices shall not be subject to the restrictions in this section:
(1) An individual using a wireless communication device to obtain emergency services including, but not limited to, an emergency call to a law enforcement agency, health care provider, fire department, or other emergency services agency or entity.
(2) An individual using a wireless communication device while the motor vehicle is parked on the shoulder of the highway, road, or street.
(3) An individual using a wireless communication device as a global positioning or navigation system to receive driving directions which has been pre-programmed with the desired coordinates. The programming of coordinates while operating a vehicle remains a violation of this section.
(Act 2012-291, p. 585, §1.)
Click link to read the Alabama Texting Law guidelines