Banning texting and driving seems like an easy decision, but Missouri lawmakers are hoping the fifth time is a charm.
The Missouri Senate is discussing two bills Wednesday morning that would ban the practice of texting and driving across the state.
Right now only drivers under the age of 21 are prohibited from texting and driving.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the effect of looking down at a text message while driving 55 mph is the same as if you were blindly driving the length of a football field.
This is now the third year that such a bill is going through the legislative process. Each time it gets voted down.
Missouri Senate discussing two bills today prohibiting texting while driving a motor vehicle. pic.twitter.com/CnNIu5GRin
— Ron Busse (@ron_busse) February 10, 2016
Drivers can't believe that we're one of six states in the country that doesn't ban the practice.
They want to change that now.
"You watch people swerving in and out of lanes, oncoming traffic will be commonly drifting into your lane, so if you look at those instances, it shocks me every day that you're not hearing many more reports about accidents," Tom Schroeder, a driver said.
It's been illegal to text and drive across the state line in Kansas since 2011.
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Andres Gutierrez can be reached at andres.gutierrez@kshb.com.
