South Dakota Lawmakers Say It’s OK to Text and Drive. While You Are at It Go Ahead and Set Fire to the Couch.

If you had an 8 year old kid and told him he couldn't eat candy bars right before bedtime, but you said if you did see him eating the sweets you wouldn't punish him for it unless he was doing something else really bad - like setting fire to your living room couch.  Do you think the youngen' would stop eating the candy bars?

Well that's kind of what the majority of the South Dakota House Politicians proposed as a texting and driving law.

House Speaker Brian Gosch, R-Rapid City, sponsor of the House measure, said the chamber will not pass a bill that would let officers issue tickets for texting behind the wheel as a primary offense.

The House passed a version of a texting and driving law that that would make texting while driving a secondary offense carrying a $25 penalty, but they had to first stop drivers for something else. In other words, they couldn't pull you over for texting and driving.

On Monday the South Dakota Senate had passed a version of the law that made texting and driving a primary offense - a class 2 misdemeanor carrying a penalty of up to 30 days in jail and a $500.00 fine.

On Tuesday, because the South Dakota House and Senate couldn't compromise on the issue, they just scrapped it. South Dakota won't be joining 41 other states in banning texting while driving.

Let me throw this statistic at ya: Researchers at Cohen Children's Medical Center in New Hyde Park estimate more than 3,000 annual teen deaths nationwide from texting and 300,000 injuries.   

That means that texting while driving is now the leading cause of death for teen drivers.

In Smee, South Dakota you can't speed through school zones, but a 14-year-old kid can text and drive through a school zone.  Some South Dakota lawmakers don't see any problem with this.  LOL!