Colorado has passed a new law which makes texting while driving legal, so long as it is not done in […]
Colorado has passed a new law which makes texting while driving legal, so long as it is not done in a ‘careless or imprudent manner’.
The new law softens the state’s standards on texting while driving overall, but also increases penalties for anyone who is driving carelessly with a phone in their hand, from $50 to $300 in citation fees and from one to four points on a driver’s license, according to the Denver Post.
Before this law, texting or manual data entering by a driver was entirely illegal.
Outside Colorado, texting while driving is illegal for all drivers in 46 states— the other exceptions being Arizona, Missouri and Montana, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. In Missouri, texting is banned only for drivers 21 and younger.
In Washington state, a new texting law that takes effect in July prohibits drivers from holding a personal electronic device while driving or stopped in traffic. In Texas, which adopted a texting ban this month, reading, writing or sending an electronic message is illegal unless the vehicle is stopped.