State Senate drops texting ball

Sure, South Carolina's Legislature spent a lot of time on a variety of weighty topics last session: how to meet a budget shortfall, how to punish a philandering governor, how to bring Boeing to the Lowcountry. The session was not without accomplishments.

But how could the Legislature end the session without approving a simple, straightforward bill to ban texting while driving? The House voted to outlaw the hazardous practice, but the bill remained stuck in the Senate for weeks.

Despite research that clearly shows texting to be one of the most dangerous things you can to do while driving, the Senate simply couldn't bring itself to prohibit it. And forget efforts to more generally limit cell-phone use by motorists.

So far, 23 states and the District of Columbia ban text messaging for all drivers, and nine other states ban it for minors or new drivers. Research has shown that drivers take their eyes off the road more than 80 percent of the time while texting.

Using a cell phone behind the wheel has been described as by some traffic safety experts as having an effect similar to driving under the influence. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration has concluded that drivers who use hand-held devices are four times more likely to get into serious accidents. Imagine the greater hazard created by texting, which requires more of a driver's attention.

This year, the U.S. government prohibited its employees from texting behind the wheel of a federal vehicle. On-road texting also has been banned for the trucking industry. And the state Department of Transportation has banned it for employees using state vehicles.

Driving is a privilege, and the Legislature has the ultimate responsibility for deciding the standards by which motorists are allowed to operate their vehicles. It's abundantly clear that texting should be on the prohibited list.