Virginia May See Stronger Texting Penalties

The Commonwealth of Virginia will consider stronger penalties for texting while driving.

At their meeting on Wednesday, the Virginia State Crime Commission backed proposed legislation to make texting while driving a primary offense. 

Delegate Benjamin Cline (R-VA-24) and Delegate Scott Surovell (VA-D-44),  introduced the legislation before the crime commission's meeting, the Richmond Community Issues Examiner reported.

“In traffic cases that do not involve significant damages or injury, it is appropriate for officers to use the City ordinance when issuing citations," Fredericksburg Chief of Police David Nye said.  "For more egregious cases, I support the addition of language to the existing state statute governing reckless driving to specifically address the offense of texting while driving.” 

The City currently has an ordinance in place that officers may use in cases of texting while driving:

Sec. 58-16. - Failure to give full time and attention.

No person shall operate a motor vehicle upon the streets of the city without giving full time and attention to the operation of the vehicle. Any person violating this section shall be guilty of a traffic infraction and punished by a fine of not more than $100.00.

(Ord. No. 05-15, § I(12-20), 6-28-2005)

A Fairfax County judge ruled this year that the current texting-while-driving law precluded a reckless driving conviction against a man prosecutors said opened a text very close to the time he struck and killed a 19-year-old man on Route 7 near Dranesville in May 2011. The current law comes with penalties of $20 for a first offense and $50 for a second offense.

When the case went to trial in a Fairfax County court this year, Judge Thomas E. Gallahue ordered the charge against Gage dropped, his texting notwithstanding because of the 2009 Virginia law makes texting while driving a minor traffic infraction.

The penalty for reckless driving in Virginia is up to one year in jail and a $2,500 fine, which is among one of the weakest penalties for the offense in the region. 

In Virginia, texting while driving is a secondary offense - police officers can only give a ticket for the violation if they pull a driver over for another reason.

A  Virginia bill that would have kept the lower penalties but made texting behind the wheel a primary offense passed the Senate last session, but stalled in the House of Delegates.

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