Are texting bans effective? Your Say Interactive

Although 39 states and Washington, D.C., now have texting-while-driving bans, on average few citations are issued, according to a Paste BN survey. Comments from Facebook:

News articles such as this one, "Few drivers nabbed by texting bans," will help the texting violations grow (News, May 6).

Having a law and not enforcing it is absurd.

— Wayne Wastier

The problem: These bans are hard to enforce.

And the Louisiana police officer quoted in Paste BN's article makes a good point: Drivers who were texting while driving might have been cited on another violation, such as crossing the center line or speeding.

— Andy Hapka

Sadly, it's going to take a lot more deaths before people wake up to the dangers of texting while driving.

— Jerry Steinhelper

Three words: text to speech. If your cellphone doesn't have that ability, then get one that does. Overregulation and taking away rights are not the answer.

— Kate Caussade

The vast majority of people who text and drive never hurt anyone. However, the punishment should be severe if someone gets hurt because of the driver's actions.

Of course, because authorities can't enforce that law, next they'll call for smartphone makers to disable texting while someone is in a vehicle that's in motion. This country is turning into a nanny state.

— Blake Harris