Bill would ban 'texting' by drivers in Md.
With wireless messaging on the rise and Maryland drivers spending more time in traffic than motorists in other states, a legislative panel considered yesterday a ban on "texting" while driving.
"With text messages, you have to take your hands and your eyes off the road," said Del. Frank S. Turner, a Howard County Democrat and sponsor of the bill before the House Environmental Matters Committee.
The bill would prohibit drivers from using a device such as a cell phone or BlackBerry to write, send or read text messages while operating a vehicle. A violation would be considered a misdemeanor subject to a maximum fine of $500.
Ron Lipps of the State Highway Administration testified in support of the bill, as did Sprint Nextel lobbyist Kim Burns. But Del. Anthony J. O'Donnell, the minority leader from Southern Maryland, was skeptical. "You go too far with this stuff sometimes," he said.
Laura Smitherman
Carroll County
: Mount Airy
Development ruling upheld on appeal
The state Court of Special Appeals has upheld a Carroll County judge's ruling that a new county adequate-facilities law does not apply to projects proposed before restrictions went into effect.
"The circuit court did not err," said the appellate court opinion, released Monday.
The county commissioners had appealed Circuit Judge Michael M. Galloway's 2005 order to allow a builder to go forward with more than 100 homes in Mount Airy.
In 2002, Forty West Builders of Ellicott City received a certificate of adequacy for two housing projects that would remain valid as long as the builder met certain development milestones. While Forty West met the first deadline, county officials said, the builder failed to meet the others, which meant the original approval had expired.
But Galloway ruled that county officials were contractually required to allow Forty West to continue under the earlier rules, not the guidelines of the more stringent adequate-facilities law enacted in 2004.
Arin Gencer