Last legislative briefing held Saturday

    The third and final state legislative briefing was held in the Washington County Courthouse Saturday morning. State Senator Becky Schmitz (D) and State Representative Larry Marek (D) spoke to a crowd of about 20 people in a courtroom on the second floor of the courthouse. Schmitz and Marek spoke about the proposed ban on text messaging while driving. Schmitz said that the Senate has added ?reading a text? to the list of proscribed activities while operating a vehicle. She said she had some reservations about that provision of the bill.   

    ?At least if you?re the one texting, and you went to court, they could subpoena the records to show you were actually texting. I don?t know how they could prove you were reading a text,? said Schmitz.

    The texting bill began in the House Transportation Committee, of which Marek is a member.

    ?We saw some films on the incidents of young drivers and accident rates, and we learned that about 3 percent of drivers have accidents within six months of getting their license,? said Marek. ?The younger set is so communication-oriented. We want them to know that when they get behind the wheel, they need to put that texting aside, because they need to concentrate on the road.?

For more, see our March 22 print edition.