The Mayor Would Like You To Stop Using Your Gadgets While Driving, Please

You currently can't text and drive in Austin, and it seems like every legislative session a statewide texting-while-driving ban crops us, passes one chamber or another, but is ultimately vetoed by the governor.

Mayor Lee Leffingwell, as part of his new Mayors United Against Texting While Driving campaign, is hoping to expand the city's ban on mobile phone use to be more comprehensive so that the use of gadgets like tablets, iPods, and GPS while driving would also be prohibited. Current law doesn't cover those devices, and has been the legal loophole some Austinites has used to wiggle out of a ticket from the city, prosecutors told KXAN.

"When the ordinance was written people were only using cell phones in their vehicles - unfortunately they are using a lot of other devices when they are driving," Bianca Bentzin, Chief Prosecutor for the City of Austin, told KXAN.

Currently there isn't a projected timeline for when the proposal will be brought before the city council, but previous studies do indicate when municipalities enact comprehensive bans on mobile phone use (no texting or talking) with tougher sanctions for violations, accidents can be reduced. Maybe it's a good idea? We all know how bad Austin drivers can be.