Ban on texting voted down for 9th time

AZSenate: my ban on driving & texting failed 11-17; Ward's amendment to legalize sawed off shotguns, silencers, nunchucks passes #AZbackward — Steve Farley (@SteveFarleyAZ) February 23, 2015

Arizona is one of only two states left without a statewide texting and driving ban after a vote today killed the ban for the ninth year in a row.

Farley, the legislator behind the ban was not the only person frustrated with the vote. Look! Save a Life founder Brendan Lyons spoke with ClippedIn.com and expressed his disappointment.

Senate president Andy Biggs, R-Gilbert, argued that law enforcement is already enforcing distracted driving using speeding laws, according to an azcentral.com article. “We have laws on the books that work,” Biggs is quoted as saying. He cited that DPS officers have made 19,000 stops of drivers for distracted driving. Lyons scoffed at Biggs’ reasoning. “Apparently Senate president Andy Biggs believes that the current laws on the books have drastically cut down on driving distracted,” Lyons said. “I would love to be utilizing whichever public roads he uses to justify this statement.”

Several municipalities, including Tucson, have banned texting and driving, but Farley’s bill would have made it illegal across the state.

And while it is illegal in Tucson, there is not a law specifically banning texting and driving in Pima County.

Read more about the failed attempt here.