Birmingham Attorney Questions Alabama Texting Ban Proposal

    BIRMINGHAM, AL, February 25, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Due to increased pressure from federal agencies and law enforcement officials, the Alabama legislature is nearing passage of a bill that would prohibit texting while driving. The new law would levy a fine of $25 for the first offense, and increase with each new violation, eventually resulting in a suspended license for repeat offenders. Apparently, the bill would not ban making and receiving phone calls, which the proponents of the bill realized would cause the bill to fail.

Whit Drake, a Birmingham personal injury attorney with Drake Law Firm, questions whether the proposed law can be enforced and if it will be subject to unwarranted ticketing by police officers: "Here's the problem: How will a state trooper or police officer know that a person is texting? They can simply deny they were texting and say they were just making a phone call or seeing who just called. The only true way to prove they were texting would be to seize the phone and check the recent history on it, or have the Court issue a subpoena or order for the phone company's records to show they were texting right before the arrest."

Texting while driving has been a prominent issue ever since federal regulators banned truck drivers from texting while operating commercial vehicles. A similar ban has since been proposed for all drivers. While many cities across the nation, including in Alabama, have enacted texting bans, many states have been slow to regulate smartphone use while driving.

According to Mr. Drake, the goal of the bill is praiseworthy but enforcement will be problematic. " It will be one thing to ticket a driver for texting while driving. It will be quite another thing to prove it."

Whit Drake is a attorney who practices injury and accident law across Alabama, handling texting accident claims, truck wrecks, work accidents and general personal injury. Drake Law Firm's website is http://www.drakelawal.com.

No representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services to be provided by other lawyers.

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