Missouri Farm Bureau says it will lobby for a state wide ban on texting and driving

Missouri Farm Bureau said it will lobby for a statewide ban on texting and driving for all ages in Missouri.

Missouri currently has a law prohibiting only drivers under the age of 21 from texting and driving.

This month bureau leaders met for the organization’s annual meeting where leaders decided to pursue the cause.

Texting and driving will be a new topic for the group, but bureau lobbyist said they are used to working toward a variety of goals.

“We work with legislators on a variety of issues during legislative sessions depending on what our policy positions that our members adopt. This will become one of our priorities for the coming legislative session,” said Missouri Farm Bureau lobbyist Leslie Holloway.

The group said it has lobbied for other roadway safety laws in the past, and feel this experience may help them with the cause.

“Road safety has always been a concern for our members. This is a policy position that we have had for a long period of time, especially out in the rural areas,” said Holloway.

Holloway said the group is planning on asking legislators to expand the current law this session.

“We will work to enact legislation in Missouri that would ban texting while driving. We already have a law in Missouri that bans texting while driving for drivers under 21, but we would support expanding that to include all drivers,” she said.

In the United States, 40 states have laws banning drivers of all ages from texting behind the wheel. More than 9 people are killed every day in the United States and more than 1,000 people are hurt in crashes involving a distracted driver.