Nineteen-year-old Jessica Jones of Pelham, N.H., might be the first to be charged under Maine’s new distracted driver law aimed at texters.
Jones was charged after breaking a utility pole in two with her car. Officers discovered an open cell phone inside her car, and Jones admitted to texting while driving.
She was not injured, but her Ford Windstar suffered about $1,500 worth of damage.
The new law, which went into effect on Sept. 12, suggests a standard fine of $119, but that can go up to $500 at the judge’s discretion.
Maine’s law is only one in a wave of new legislation sweeping the nation, brought on after a Virginia Tech study found that texters are 23 times as likely to have or nearly have an accident. To put that into perspective, a driver at the standard legal blood alcohol limit of .08 is only 11 times more likely to be involved in an accident.
So far, 18 states, as well as the District of Columbia, have passed some form of texting while driving ban. President Obama last week barred federal employees from texting while behind the wheel.