Have you ever sat at a green light for about 5 seconds, wondering when the polite amount of pause time has been exceeded, and you now need to honk in order to get thru the light? Well, get ready to do a lot more honking Austin! Effective January 1, 2015 there will be a lot of texting and choosing that next Spotify song at red lights and stop signs.
The distracted driving laws for Austin are currently limited to texting while driving. But very soon we will be looking at no use of any hand held electronic while the vehicle is moving. Which makes perfect sense. Whether your texting, or entering the address for your GPS route, you are taking your eyes off the road and that is dangerous.
You can still use your phone with a hands free device, and 911 emergency calls, two way radios and your vehicle navigation system are not included in the ban. Bicyclists will be held to the same restrictions this time around. The fine has not been agreed upon yet, but most likely will be an accelerated system with first offense around $200.
Change is good and safer roads are always a positive. Just remember to be patient at all those red lights… I see longer go time in the near future!
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