Texting, speeding teen catches officer’s attention

HOUSTON — A police press release from last week contains a crime somewhat young in the state, dubbed in the release “text messaging while driving.”

The Houston Police Department press release states that on May 25 at 1:18 a.m., a teen, unnamed since he was under 18, was pulled over for speeding on the Parks Highway. Houston Police report they’d spotted his Maroon 2000 Acura driving over 70 mph and crossing the centerline.

“A subsequent investigation revealed that the vehicle was driven by a juvenile male who was text messaging,” according to the Houston Police report.

Police say they cited the teen for driving 74 in a 55 zone and driving on a provisional license. Charges of driving while text messaging and negligent driving were sent to the District Attorney, according to the press release.

Megan Peters, spokeswoman for the Alaska State Troopers, said the law came into affect in September of last year. While often times dubbed the “texting while driving” law, Peters said that texting is actually a small piece of it.

“It’s actually not even called texting while driving,” she said. “It’s anything that has a screen.”

Phones with screens, she said, can be used only to view caller identification information. And that’s where texting comes in. Any other use of the screen, be it to text message, e-mail or play games, is prohibited.

And it’s not just while a car is moving. If the car is in drive and a person is texting at a stoplight, that’s illegal too.

“Pretty much if somebody really has to text somebody that badly they need to turn off the road,” she said.

The law actually prohibits any device with a screen to be installed in a car in view of the driver regardless of whether it works or not. Driving with headphones on is also illegal under the statute. There are exceptions for navigational devices and equipment used for law enforcement or safety purpose or to improve a driver’s hearing.

As far as penalties go, Peters said a violation of the law requires a court appearance. It’s almost like a DUI, she said, in that if a person is caught texting but there’s no accident involved, the crime is a misdemeanor. If an accident occurs and someone is injured, however, the severity of the law ratchets up to a felony.

More specifically, according to the law, the crime is a misdemeanor if no injury occurs. If the person’s driving causes minor injuries, it’s a class C felony, if it causes major injury it’s a class B felony and if it causes death it’s a class A felony.

It’s also similar in spirit to drunken driving laws in that it’s an attempt by the legislature to recognize how dangerous motor travel can be.

“If you think about it, a vehicle can be just as dangerous if not more so than a gun,” Peters said.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.