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Virginia Texting Ban To Take Effect July 1 – $20 Fines For Texting Or Emailing

Since mobile devices, texting, and emailing have increased in popularity over the last few years, many lawmakers have worried about the increased number of car accidents, car accident injuries, and car accident fatalities caused by cell phone texting and Blackberry emailing.

Following in the footsteps of a number of other states, the Virginia General Assembly passed a new law banning texting and emailing while behind the wheel. The new law goes into effect on July 1, 2009, after Virginia lawmakers decided that distracted drivers were causing too many traffic accidents and taking too many lives.

Drivers caught texting while driving will face a $20 first offense fine and a $50 fine for a second offense. However, it should be noted that texting and driving is a secondary offense - you cannot be pulled over by a Virginia State Police officer solely for texting while driving - you must break another driving law first. For example, a person texting while driving who is following all rules of the road cannot be fine, although a person texting while driving who has just run a stop sign or broken a speed limit may face multiple citations.

There are also a few drivers who are exempt from the new Virginia texting law - police officers, drivers who are parked, and emergency responders won't have to stop using their mobile devices.

The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles reports that 28,395 car crashes occurred in Virginia last year that involved driver distraction - and many think that these estimates are low. Of the 28,395 accidents, 114 people died and 14,480 were injured.

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