Austin teens face texting ban

AUSTIN (KXAN) - A soccer practice at the end of winter break brought a string of Austin’s McCallum High students back to school a day before classes resumed. Even then, the city’s texting ban was all the talk.

On January 1, Austin’s new law to stop drivers from texting on the road anywhere in the city limits hit these teens hard. Leaving practice and climbing into his Jeep, Nathan Faulkner, 16, particularly scoffed at the law’s $500 fine.

"Uh, they (my parents) would definitely make me pay for it,” Faulkner said, “and that would kind of suck."

Considering the severity of the new law, he wondered how other teens might still be tempted to text.

"I mean, if you're looking down at a screen,” he said, “it's kind of hard to drive."

There's a reason behind the rule, even with this age group so proficient with a cell phone. The Texas Transportation Institute said car crashes kill more teens each year than anything else. The third most common factor – distractions like texting.

Austin Independent School District Police have officers at every high school and middle school and plan to speak to students about the texting ban. If that lesson doesn't sink in, students could face the same fate as all other unlawful motorists in the city.

"If you get pulled over by the police,” said Sgt. David Stovall, “that's another education opportunity for us, not just for our students, but for the community to say hey this law's out here, this is what it consists of, please abide by it."

It’s easy to say now, but consider a similar state law to ban cell phones altogether while driving through school zones. So far, AISD police have written zero citations since it went into effect in September. In fact, all law enforcement in the city together have only filed nine tickets.

"As people become more familiar with the law,” said Stovall, “then we'll start issuing the citations."

One of the reasons could be because the city has yet to place some of the warning signs out at the 266 school zones within its jurisdiction. Karla Villalon, a spokesperson for the city transportation department, said it could be an entire year to two years for all of them.

McCallum High where Faulkner and his friends go is one of those schools without the warning signs. They were unaware the law even existed.

When Faulkner’s passenger was asked about his parents’ possible reaction to his friend texting and driving, Parker Burns, said, "Uh, they wouldn't want me to ride with him, for sure."

They said a warning sign is a good reminder, but it will be tough for some teens to remember all the rules on the road.

KXAN checked with the four school districts within the Austin city limits. Austin ISD and Round Rock ISD have no plans to teach students about the new texting ban in class. Del Valle and Eanes have not returned calls.

As for Austin's largest driving school - no word whether this city law will be included in the curriculum there either.