Texting while driving could soon be banned in Schenectady County

Text-messaging while driving could soon be illegal in Schenectady County, if lawmakers get their way.

County legislature chair Susan Savage introduced a proposal Thursday to ban texting while driving.

"It is important that we propose legislation that will prevent a deadly accident before it happens," said Savage.

Savage cited the New York state seat belt law as a successful example of implementing accident-prevention habits, saying only 17 percent of drivers wore their seat belts before the law was implemented. Now 89 percent of drivers wear their seatbelts, Savage said.

The proposal comes on the heel of a massive commuter train accident in Los Angeles that killed 25 people. Officials have been investigating whether the conductor was text-messaging just before the crash.

A Rochester car accident in June 2007 that killed five girls was also initially thought to have been caused by the driver's distractedness while texting.

Savage cited statistics from a 2006 study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that found nearly 80 percent of crashes, and 65 percent of near-crashes, involved some form of driver distraction within three seconds.

Another study by Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company found 20 percent of drivers between 18 and 60 send text messages while driving, and 66 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds text while driving.