The city’s commissioners must choose whether or not to approve the recommendation from the Amarillo Traffic Commission to make texting while driving illegal. The Traffic Commission recommendation had a vote of 6-0 with its members, but still contains a few questions.

For the city to enforce this recommendation police officers would need to witness a motorist sending the text message and prove that the law was broken. Officers wonder how this will be done, just as they wondered about spotting motorists using handheld phones.

Traffic Commissioner Kenneth Graham, leader of Share the Road, is in favor of taking restrictions even further.

If the City Commissions takes up this discussion, an ordinance will have to be passed in two voting periods during its regular weekly public meetings.

In November, Amarillo Lt. Mike Miller said the problem with a texting-while-driving ban that does not also ban cell-phone use entirely will be difficult for officers who must determine how a driver is using a phone. An officer must determine if the motorist is on the phone or sending a text.

In August, police began enforcing a ban on handheld cell phones while driving, but drivers may use a hands free device while driving in school zones, under the law.

Only one Amarillo resident attended the traffic commission meeting, Trina Fournier, said her research shows texting while driving accounts for only a small percentage of annual car crashes resulting in fatalities, and questioned whether the city would go so far as to ban other driving distractions, like eating.

The next step will be for the city’s legal department to draft an ordinance for the City Commission to discuss and consider.