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The bill prohibits a person who is operating a motor vehicle on a public road or highway from “testing,” using a wireless communications device to write, send, or read a written communication. The bill includes these exceptions to the ban:
- Law enforcement officers or emergency service personnel acting within the course and scope of their employment;
- When the motor vehicle is stopped off the regular traveled portion of the roadway;
- Using the wireless communications device to make or receive a phone call; receive an emergency, traffic, or weather alert message; or receive a message related to the operation or navigation of the vehicle;
- To report current or ongoing illegal activity to law enforcement;
- To prevent imminent injury to a person or property; and
- To relay information between a transit or for-hire operator and the operator’s dispatcher, if the device is affixed permanently to the motor vehicle.
Law enforcement officers will be required to issue a warning citation for violation until January 1, 2011. The fine for unlawful text messaging will be $60.