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As of July 1, 2013, police in Virginia can stop a driver who appears to be texting while driving, and fines for the offense have been raised.

Photo by Ameesha Felton

Virginia anti-texting and driving law takes effect

2 Jul 2013 | Mike DiCicco Marine Corps Base Quantico

By base order, texting while driving has long been a primary offense aboard Marine Corps Base Quantico, meaning police can stop and cite a driver simply on suspicion of texting. As of July 1, 2013, it is also a primary offense off base, as a new state law takes effect.

Throughout Virginia, police can now stop and ticket motorists for texting while driving without citing any other offense. The new law also increases penalties for the violation from $20 to $125 for the first offense and from $50 to $250 for the second.

Bill Kennedy, spokesman for the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office, said the county has started with an education campaign, with message boards already going up. After a time, officers will likely begin stopping drivers and giving warnings before they start issuing citations, he said.

“We do believe in letting folks know what’s going on, and most of the time motorists do a pretty good job of realizing this is for their own good,” Kennedy said. “It’s not a ‘gotcha thing,’ it’s a safety issue.”

State law still allows talking on the phone while driving, but, Kennedy said, when officers begin issuing tickets, they will target anyone they believe to be texting or emailing, and drivers who say they were doing otherwise will be able to take the matter up in court.

On Quantico, though, talking on a phone while driving is also an offense unless the driver is using a hands-free device, per Marine Corps Base Order P5560, making it easier for base police to target distracted drivers, said Michael Harris of the Provost Marshal’s Office’s Accident Investigations Unit.

“That gives us a higher probability of actually identifying someone using their phone improperly,” he said.

Harris said the change in state law is unlikely to affect how drivers are cited and penalized aboard Quantico, although it could result in a higher fine for offenders unassociated with the federal government, who are subject to federal magistrate’s citations.

But he said any further similarity between base orders and state law is welcome on a base where a number of driving rules are different than Virginia laws. “We’ll have less of that line where you drive a foot onto the other side and everything is different,” Harris said.

The more area drivers get used to the idea of driving and texting as a primary offense with a high penalty, the less they’ll do it on base, he said. “That’s definitely a good thing.”

Kennedy said his department appreciates any law that cuts back on distracted driving.

“I don’t think there’s any question that texting while driving is a dangerous practice,” he said.

— Writer: mdicicco@quanticosentryonline.com


Marine Corps Base Quantico