Illinois to Greet the New Year with Texting Ban

Save your "Happy New Year" texts. On January 1, 2010, Illinois drivers will be ringing in the new year with a brand new set of laws prohibiting drivers from text messaging and e-mailing while on the road. With this legislation, Illinois joins a growing number of states that have taken a stand on the issue of texting behind the wheel.What's the big deal?Many see cell phones as one the fastest growing dangers on the road — and a growing body of evidence supports this fear. In findings just made public in July of this year, it was discovered that the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration (NHTSA) has recommended the ban of drivers’ cell phone use while driving since 2002.More recent reports suggest that phone use in the car may be even more impairing than being under the influence of alcohol. Still another study, released this year by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, found that truckdrivers were 23 times more likely to crashwhen texting.Illinois' new texting law comes at a time when national attention is turning toward the role of cell phone use in car accidents. Only a week before the Illinois laws passed, a bill was introduced to Congress which, if confirmed, would punish states that don't have texting restrictions by reducing the amount of Federal highway funding available to them.In light of everything, Illinois' decision to ban texting seems a reasonable one.  Still, the state is still very much in the minority, at least for the time being. If the aforementioned bill passes through Congress and the Senate though, many more states may find the threatened withdrawal of funding reason enough to take another look at texting.Even in states without texting bans, it's important to remember that your first responsibility is your safety and the safety of others. And if you happen to be in Illinois come January, you will need to take that to heart or you will risk citation.