Common sense won a small but significant victory when the state House of Representatives approved a ban on texting and emailing while driving.

It is patently obvious that doing either of these things while operating a vehicle puts you and others at risk. Unfortunately, the fact that an activity is obviously dangerous doesn’t stop some people from doing it. The law sometimes has to help them along.

The Senate also has its own bill that would ban texting and driving.

The penalties for this reckless behavior are relatively mild. The texting ban in the House bill comes with a $25 fine, but no points on your driving record. The violation won’t be reported to your insurance company. Police couldn’t confiscate the devices, look through e-mail messages or require phone companies to provide them. Nor could they use texting-and-driving stops as a basis to search drivers, passengers or cars.

The bill also prohibits school bus drivers from texting or talking on a cell phone while driving. But it does allow any driver to text or call in case of an emergency or to report illegal activity.

Opponents offered up a long list of amendments to lengthen the list of activities banned while driving, including putting on or taking off clothing, smoking, eating and changing tunes on your iPod, but those efforts failed. House members did delete from the bill a ban on using hand-held cell phones.

Opponents also whittled away at the repercussions for getting caught driving and texting or e-mailing. The bill started with a $100 fine and two points on your driving record.

Some complained that this would be a weak and unenforceable law, but those are the same arguments made when lawmakers debated our seat belt law.

Today, we can see the positive impact the state’s seat belt law has had on our safety. Since the state’s stricter seat belt law took effect in 2005, allowing police to stop motorists for not wearing a seat belt, the number of fatalities on state roads has dropped from 1,093 to 879 last year, according to the Department of Public Safety. The fine for that violation, too, is $25.

Small things, such as fastening your seat belt and setting aside the cell phone while behind the wheel, can make a big difference. ...

The Beaufort Gazette