Texting while driving ban takes effect soon - 19 Action News|Cleveland, OH|News, Weather, Sports

Texting while driving ban takes effect soon

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OHIO (WOIO) -

Two years ago a woman who was texting and driving 70 m.p.h. hit a Southern Ohio woman.  Aimee Bishop lost her unborn child, her chance to have children and will have to lose part of her leg if she ever wants to walk again.

That's the reality of texting and driving.

It's accidents like that one that made Ohio Lawmakers ban texting while driving in our state and in just two weeks, police will be able to ticket you for texting while driving.

A simulator at the new AT & T store in Fairview Park provided an interesting way to highlight the dangers of texting and driving.

The program prompts you to text while driving.  At times, the drivers were so distracted they were driving under 10 m.p.h. and at other times stopped at green lights.

The event was an opportunity for kids to meet State Senator Tom Patton, who authored the law that makes a mobile device a no-no in any car a teen is driving, "We were averaging 41 deaths a year on 16-year-old drivers."

AT & T stats say texting drivers are 23 times more likely to crash than those who don't.

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