The Prague Times-Herald 11/05/2015

HERALD

Ban on texting while driving took

OINTERS effect on November 1, 2015
Desk of

howski, DC

give you a Biblical definition of Virtue. The best one

I found when studying for
Sunday School is Virtue is
the image of Christ being
carved into our character. This means we cannot
have true virtue by our own
strength or effort; it requires
Gods help.
We have run out of space,
again, but havent begun to
look at character, which is a
large part of virtue; this will
be next weeks Pointer.

Prague
School
Menu
NOVEMBER 9 - 13
MONDAY
Breakfast: Sausage/toast,
cereal/toast, fruit, juice,
milk
Lunch: Steak fritter, potatoes & gravy, broccoli, roll,
tropical fruit, milk
TUESDAY
Breakfast: Yogurt/toast,
cereal/toast, juice, fruit,
milk
Lunch: Hamburger with
lettuce & pickles, hash
brown, pork n beans, banana, milk
WEDNESDAY
Breakfast: Pancake on a
stick, cereal/toast, fruit,
juice, milk
Lunch: Soft tacos/cheese,
pinto beans, lettuce, salsa,
apple slices, milk
THURSDAY
Breakfast: Cereal/cinnamon toast, fruit, juice,
milk
Lunch: Chicken & noodles,
green beans, bread stick,
salad with ranch dressing,

OKLAHOMA CITY On
Sunday, Oklahoma will officially become the 46th state
to ban texting while driving,
a law that legislators say is as
an effort to make Oklahoma
roadways safer by reducing
the number of distracted
drivers.
House Bill 1965, authored
by Rep. Terry ODonnell,
makes texting while driving
a primary offense, which
means an officer can pull a
person over without witnessing any other violations, and
imposes a maximum $100
fine for violation of the law.
The law exempts drivers who
are using their phone to communicate with emergency
responders while driving.
This is a wake-up call
not just for teen drivers but
all of us who have become
accustomed to the constant
contact our cellular devices
provide, said Speaker of the
House Jeffrey W. Hickman,
R-Fairview. Texting while
driving is becoming one of
the leading causes of death,
which is not surprising as a
National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration study
shows typing or reading text
on a cell phone is six times
more dangerous than driving
while intoxicated.
The measure received
overwhelming support in
the Legislature, passing out
of the House by a vote of
85-7 and out of the Senate by
a vote of 38-6 before being
signed into law by Gov. Mary
Fallin in May.
More than 330,000 injuries each year are caused by
texting and driving across
the nation, said ODonnell,

R-Tulsa. Although we do
not know when, where or
who, what we do know is
that this law will prevent
needless property damage
and injuries and it will save
lives on Oklahomas roads
and highways.
According to the Department of Public Safety, in
2013 data, distracted drivers using electronic devices
caused more than 600 auto
crashes, including 14 fatal
accidents. The danger to
Oklahomans has only increased as cell phone ownership has soared during the
past decade, said Oklahoma
Department of Public Safety Commissioner Michael
Thompson
This is not only an important public safety issue,
but it is personal for the
Department of Public Safety
and the Oklahoma Highway
Patrol, said Thompson. In
February, a state trooper
was killed in the line of
duty and another trooper
was seriously injured with
life threatening injuries
that he is still recovering
from today. This traumatic
incident occurred because a
driver was updating his social media accounts instead
of watching the road.
Thompson believes Oklahomas new law will help
other families and other law
enforcement officers avoid
additional tragedies in the
future.
Trooper Nic Dees never
made it home to his family,
just like dozens of other
Oklahomans each year who
are killed by distracted driving, Thompson said. Not

only is texting while driving

senseless, it is selfish. I know
that all of our Troopers and
their families are very happy
that this law was passed
because they deal with the
consequences of distracted
driving every day.
Several telecommunications providers also supported the bill.
AT&T applauds the efforts of the Oklahoma Legislature for taking steps to ban
texting while driving, said
Steve Hahn, President of
AT&T Oklahoma. Through
our It Can Wait campaign,
weve worked hard to raise
awareness about this issue
with Oklahomans and remind all drivers to keep their
eyes on the road, not on their
phones. It will take all of us
working together to combat
this deadly practice, and this
law is an important step toward making our Oklahoma
roadways safer.
Pioneer Cellular supports
the new distracted driving
law and has been promoting safe driving through
our Commit, Drive Dont
Text campaign throughout
Western Oklahoma, said
Pioneer Cellular General
Manager Richard Ruhl.
The law is known as the
Trooper Nicholas Dees and
Trooper Keith Burch Act of
2015, in memory of State
Trooper Nic Dees and in
honor of State Trooper Keith
Burch. A driver who was
texting struck the Troopers
on February 9 while they
were working a traffic accident on I-40. Dees was
killed and Burch received
devastating injuries.

Watkins Insurance
Agency

November 6, 2015 4:54 pm /