Texting while you are driving became a primary offense on July 1 in Virginia.
That means police officers can pull you over solely for texting or emailing while you are behind the wheel. It has been illegal to text and drive in the Commonwealth since 2009 but it was a secondary offense which meant police needed another reason to stop drivers they saw texting such as a defective light or erratic driving.
Texting And Driving First Citation
Under the new law the first citation for texting at the wheel will be a fine of $125 dollars, with every offense after that carrying a fine of $250 dollars.
The new law raises a number of legal questions. It states that a driver cannot “manually enter multiple letters or texts” while driving or “read any email or text message transmitted to the device.”
But drivers will still be able to use their hands to make phone calls and receive directions using a smartphone’s Global Positioning System. It may be difficult for a law enforcement officer to differentiate between someone entering in a phone number, which remains legal, and entering in text which isn’t, from the road.
Cell Phone & Reckless Driving
Using a cell phone or other device while driving could also lead to a more serious offense of reckless driving.
The Virginian-Pilot reported an opinion of Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli who said a reckless driving charge would be appropriate if the use of a hand-held communication device led a driver to “seriously endanger others or their property.”
The Attorney General gave his response to a request from Del. Scott Surovell, from Fairfax County, who had asked whether a non-typing phone use, such as “playing Angry Birds, reading Twitter or Facebook,” would constitute reckless driving.
I expect to be representing more people who are charged with this offense. It raises a number of issues about enforcement, not least the question of whether police officers will enforce it properly, or will use it as a spurious reason to stop drivers.
The Times-Dispatch reported an amendment to the texting legislation put forward by Gov. Bob McDonnell and approved by the General Assembly in April, “directed the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services to develop a training curriculum on how to implement and enforce the law and make that available to law-enforcement agencies.”
However, the new legislation has come in before the training has been implemented, the newspaper reported.
If You Have Been Charged With Texting While Driving. Call us for a free consultation (703-934-0101) or fill out the contact form below:
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