On April 3 the Mississippi Legislature failed to pass a law banning texting while driving.
Mississippi, which has historically been slow to pass measures regarding safe driving, is one of only seven states without a texting-while-driving ban. House Bill 484, which would have levied a $25 fine until July 1, 2015, and $100 after that, on those caught texting behind the wheel, was killed in the House by a combination of incompetence and an unlikely confluence of interests.
In previous years, opposition to a texting ban has come from right-wing conservatives who see the law as an infringement on personal liberty. Those opposing the texting ban view the legislation as a slippery slope that could lead to more restrictions on personal freedoms.
In recent weeks, these libertarian-leaning Republicans have found an unlikely ally in the Mississippi Black Caucus. Black legislators such as Rep. Ed Blackmon, D-Canton, have argued against the bill on the grounds that the law could be used to profile black drivers.
The reality, however, is that these interests should never have led to the bill’s failure. The bill had already passed both the House and the Senate, and Gov. Phil Bryant had expressed his plan to sign the bill into law if it reached his desk. In the last hours of the legislative session, however, the bill was brought up for reconsideration because of pure incompetence on the part of our state legislators.
Rep. Bill Denny, R-Jackson, motioned to table the bill because he claimed that he and other legislators were not aware that the bill would apply to all drivers and not only those under 18 years of age. In the aftermath of the motion, many legislators were not aware which bill was being reconsidered and simply did not vote to bring the bill up for a vote, killing the bill until next year.
The incompetence on the part of these state legislators is multifaceted. First of all, the bill was able to pass both the House and the Senate without a number of legislators being aware of the law’s contents. Secondly, it appears that these politicians hold the belief that somehow people become more capable of texting while driving as they get older, based on their preference for a bill only applicable to teenage drivers. Of course, another explanation is that the legislators simply did not want the law to curb their own texting habits.
Orion Wilcox is a senior economics major from Bay St. Louis.
