Harrisburg, PA – Pennsylvania became the 35th state to ban texting while driving after Gov. Tom Corbett (R) signed Senate Bill 314 on Nov. 9.
The bill, which is scheduled to go into effect on March 8, imposes a $50 fine for using a cell phone or similar device for texting, emailing or surfing the Internet while driving, according to a press release from the Pennsylvania Office of the Governor.
“We’ve said it in the past, but today, we are making it law: If you have an urgent need to text, you must pull over and park,” Corbett said in the release. “If it’s not important enough to stop your car, then it’s certainly not important enough to risk a life.”
The new law makes texting while driving a primary offense. Primary laws allow law enforcement officers to pull over a vehicle if they observe the offense.
