• Casey Wilson/The Daily

Jessie Parham/The Daily

Teens who text while driving may soon be breaking the law in Oklahoma.

Senate Bill 1908 would prohibit any driver 18 years and younger who has a learner’s permit or an intermediate driver’s license from using a hand-held electronic device to talk or text while the car is in motion. If a driver is found to be “distracted,” they may be pulled over and given a citation.

The bill passed the Senate and House and will become law if signed by the governor.

Rep. Sue Tibbs, R- Tulsa, author of the bill, said young drivers need to focus on driving and learning how to be a good driver instead of talking to friends and potentially endangering their lives or the lives of others.

“Considering the fact that we’re talking about 3,000 pounds of metal traveling at 40 to 75 miles per hour on autopilot, it’s clearly dangerous to have teens texting while driving,” Tibbs said. “It’s a dangerous situation that could lead to tragedy.”

Drivers know they should not text and drive, but do it anyway because there is no big penalty for when they get caught doing so, Rep. Danny Morgan, D-Prague, said.

“These are new drivers; they need to have both eyes focused on the road ahead, not on a cell phone screen,” said Morgan, who co-authored the bill.

Violation of Senate Bill 1908 would result in the suspension of the driver’s license, payment of court costs and ticket fees, according to the bill.

Morgan said he was somewhat disappointed by the elimination of provisions from the bill in banning all drivers from texting while driving, but is pleased of this step toward it.

“The evidence on texting while driving is so compelling that virtually everyone who is involved in highway safety or law enforcement has now endorsed a complete ban on texting while driving, and that includes everyone from AAA to the Department of Public Safety,” Morgan said. “This bill is a good start, and hopefully we will be able to complete the job in the next session.”