May 25, 2019
Texting While Driving Is Legal in Missouri
While 47 states have outlawed texting while driving for all drivers, you might be surprised to learn that Missouri is only one of three states that do not ban texting and driving for all drivers. In fact, Missouri drivers who are 22 years and older, can text, email, browse the internet, post to social media, watch videos, etc. all while driving. Meanwhile, traffic fatalities in Missouri continue to increase. The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) studies reveal that using a cell phone while driving is a key reason for the increasing death toll. “Cell phone related crashes are up 35 percent since 2014″, according to Jon Nelson who is an assistant to the state highway safety and traffic engineer. “It’s one of the fastest growing causes of fatal crashes in Missouri, and like most other contributing factors, it’s completely preventable.”
Distracted driving caused by texting has created a new universe of roadway risk. As distracted drivers take their eyes off the road to text and manipulate their phones, they substantially increase the probability of a violent collision – the type of collisions that cause serious injury or death.
Given the above, we need to make this the year that the Missouri Legislature finally passes a texting-while-driving ban for all drivers. In the past, over many years, Missouri lawmakers have rejected legislative efforts to address this serious public safety concern. Yet it has been proven that laws that prohibit texting while driving make a difference. According to the research of the American Journal of Public Health published in 2019, states that ban texting while driving have seen a significant reduction in the number of emergency department visits following a motor vehicle crash.
All-Driver Texting Ban for Missouri
The first step in curbing distracted driving in Missouri is for the Missouri General Assembly to pass an All-Driver Texting Ban law. Over the years, Attorney Doug Horn of The Horn Law Firm in Kansas City has been dedicating his efforts to make texting while driving illegal in Missouri. To that end, Horn has a petition drive to urge Missouri State Senators & Representatives to pass a new law that would make it illegal for any driver, young or old, to text or manipulate their cell phone while driving. Horn plans on using the All-Driver Texting Ban Law Petition, along with his other efforts, to persuade Missouri lawmakers to act quickly in the next legislative session.
The time is now to protect ourselves, our passengers, and others on the roadway by making it illegal to text and drive in Missouri. Please stand with us on this critical public health issue by signing the Petition.
Missouri citizens can join our cause by going to https://www.AllDriverTextingBanForMo.com.
About Doug Horn
As a personal injury lawyer who concentrates his practice in motor vehicle accident law, Horn has seen first-hand the devastating consequences caused by distracted driving. Distracted driving collisions are often violent crashes that substantially increase the probability of causing serious injury or death. In fact, from his many years in handling serious injury and death cases caused by motor vehicle crashes, Horn believes that distracted driving has become more deadly than drunk driving. Statistics back this up, showing that texting while driving is six times more likely to cause a car accident than drunk driving.*
Since 2009, Horn has devoted a significant amount of his professional time and resources to the advancement of driver safety, particularly in the areas of distracted driving prevention, teen driver protection, and traffic fatality reduction. While most of his driving safety advocacy efforts have been within the Greater Kansas City region, including being a frequent contributor to media outlets, Horn has been active in presenting his “Drive By Example” driver safety programs throughout Missouri. To learn more about how Horn is advancing driver safety, please visit https://www.hornlaw.com/advancing-driver-safety/.
*Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Association, the National Safety Council, and The Zebra
