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Law Prof Proposes Tax on Texting to Curb Calamities

By Carolyn Elefant

Texting while driving seems so inherently stupid that I find it difficult to believe that a federal law is necessary to ban the practice. After all, as far as I know, there's no law specifically prohibiting driving while reading a newspaper, so I'm not sure why a special rule should be needed for texting. However, as law professor James Edward Maule explains at MauledAgain, 14 states have already enacted laws banning the act. The proposed federal law would use the threat of withheld highway funds to pressure those states that haven't passed such laws to think again. But Maule is not so sure that a flat ban on texting while driving is the optimal way to address the harms it can cause. As an alternative, Maule suggests a tax on texting instead. He notes that it might not be feasible now, but that it could be if technology can be developed to enable enforcement authorities to determine whether a driver is texting. As for the benefits of a tax rather than a ban, Maule says: The proceeds from a texting user fee could be used to fund health care and rehabilitation costs for the innocent victims of thoughtless texters, and...

Full post as published by Legal Blog Watch on August 03, 2009 (boomark / email).