Texting and driving now banned in New York State

Residents of New York State, beware: texting and driving is now 100 percent banned. No, it’s not the first state to enact such a ban—far from it, actually—but sometimes things don’t register till they happen in your backyard. The law goes into effect today, and infractions carry a maximum fine of $150.

One thing to keep in mind is that the new law is a secondary enforcement law, meaning that a state trooper isn’t going to pull you over because he sees you texting while at a stop light. No, the officer will have to have another reason to pull you over (maybe you’re driving erratically, or speeding) and then he finds that you have an iPhone in your lap that’s at the text messaging interface with a half-written text message. That’s when you can expect to be hit with a fine.

Of course, the best way to avoid any such fine is to ignore your phone while on the road. What could be so important that you need to take your eyes off the road as you’re hurtling several tons of matter though spacetime at high speeds? Really, you don’t need to reply to every single text message within eight seconds; your friends will understand.