Cincinnati close to approving texting while driving ban

CINCINNATI - Texting while you drive in Cincinnati could soon cost you a $100 fine. Cincinnati City Council could vote as early as Thursday afternoon on a texting ban.

With six of nine city council members already approving a texting ban in their Public Safety Committee, it seems the math will finally add up to turn this proposal into law.

The proposal going before council would make writing, sending or reading a cell phone text message while driving illegal in the city. Cincinnati police would be able to pull you over and issue a $100 fine for a violation.

Police administrators admit they don't have much evidence that texting has caused traffic accidents in the city, but council members say they've seen enough evidence that texting is impairing drivers.

If the council does approve a ban, Cincinnati would join Columbus, Ohio and Kentucky in banning texting while driving. It's already the law in 28 states nationwide.

Any ban would not take effect for 30 days.

The current proposal would not make talking on your cell phone while you drive illegal. Drivers can also continue to put addresses into GPS devices if they are stopped or out of the flow of traffic.