SC state senator Jake Knotts, who has personally guaranteed lieutenant governor Andre Bauer's manhood, confesses he can't talk on a phone and drive his car at the same time. Fellow Republicans say it's a free-market choice.
Knotts on Wednesday explained his Road to Damascus-style conversion by relating a personal experience. Once, he said, he caused a traffic accident while driving and using a cell phone. He later said no one was hurt when he rear-ended a truck. But he caused $8,000 worth of damage to his Lincoln sedan.
Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee - which Knotts chairs - passed out a bill that would ban texting while driving. It contains no language concerning fines. But Knotts said he prefers a $25 fine - like the fine for seat belt violations. The bill now goes to the full Judiciary Committee.
Knotts fought to include language that also would have banned talking on a hand-held cell phone while driving.
But a fierce protest by state Sen. Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, who ridiculed the notion that using cell phones while driving might cause accidents, prompted a potential Knotts ally, state Sen. Creighton Coleman, D-Fairfield, to join Massey and outvote Knotts.
A law banning hand-held cell phone use by motorists "is not going to do anything," Massey scoffed. "It's completely feel-good, y'all."
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