Politico Pro reports the DOT is offering up a $550,000 grant for anti-tetxting programs in Massachusetts and Connecticut. The program will include cops watching for texting drivers from overpasses.
Though states have been quick to react to DOT Secretary Ray LaHood's full court press on distracted driving, enforcing anti-texting laws has proven particularly difficult. So far, 39 states have enacted anti-texting laws. But previous distracted driving demonstration programs in Connecticut and New York showed that only about 5 percent of distracted driving citations issued were for texting violations — the majority were for using a cellphone.
The need for the program, intended to test methods that will yield best practices for enforcing anti-texting laws, shows just how difficult it can be for authorities to catch someone in the act of texting. But it also presents a problem for privacy and limited-government advocates, who see some of the proposed enforcement methods as overreach.
Post a Comment