Trendsetter

New York follows Washington’s lead and enacts texting while driving ban today.

Slowly but more or less surely, the U.S. is following Washington state’s lead on banning hands-on cell phone use, and texting while driving. Washington was one of the first states to enact a statewide ban on hands-on cell phone use while driving, starting in July 2008. Washington was also the first state to outlaw texting while driving. The ban was passed in May 2007 and went into effect in January 2008.

Today, New York state enacts its own ban on texting while driving, joining not only Washington but, now, New Jersey, Alaska, California, Arkansas Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Utah and Virginia. Bans on texting while driving will go into effect by January 1, 2010, in Oregon, North Carolina, Kansas and Colorado.

According to a New York Times/CBS New poll released today, support for prohibitions of texting while driving is at 97 percent nationwide, though only half support punishing texting while driving as severely as being under the influence of alcohol while driving. The same poll shows that public support for bans on hand-cell phone use while driving is now up to 80%, as opposed to 69% in 2001.