In Missouri Texting & Driving is Legal but maybe not for long

Missouri is one of two states left in the country where texting and driving is allowed if you are over 21, but there is a bill working its way through legislation to change that, should texting and driving be illegal in the Show-Me State?

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If you didn't know (I didn't know before I stumbled upon this article) you can legally text and drive in Missouri if you are over the age of 21, but that could soon change due to a new bill making its way through the legislation in the state. According to an article from kshb.com, there are only two states in the country that don't have distracted driving laws regarding texting and that is Missouri and Montana, the article goes on to say...

"Data from the Missouri Department of Transportation shows 70% of drivers using cell phones in Missouri traffic crashes are 22 years of age or older...since 2015, an average of 108 people are killed every year in distracted driving-related crashes and over the past five years, cell phone-related crashes in the state have increased by 30%, with nearly 2,500 crashes in 2019."

I was pretty shocked to learn that Missouri, a state I drive in multiple times each week, didn't have texting and driving laws but that could soon be ending, according to another article from thecentersquare.com, House Bill 1487 is being floated around the Missouri legislator and the article says if it passes the bill...

"...creates the traffic offense of distracted driving for those operating a commercial or noncommercial motor vehicle or school bus while using an electronic wireless communication device unless it's being used for navigation. If the bill becomes law, distracted driving would be a moving violation with fines and points assessed to licenses."

So should Missouri pass this bill and make it illegal to text and drive over 21? Personally, I think the answer is yes they should. We see the numbers going up year by year people being injured or killed from distracted driving, I know (living in Illinois) I can say that one of the main reasons I don't pick up my phone when I am in the car is I am scared of getting caught and getting a ticket. Plus so many people now aren't just texting and driving they are TikTok'ing and driving, or Facebook live'ing and driving, or on Snapchat and driving, making the roadways safer for all of us from people on their phones should be a priority in my opinion.