Proposal would put the brakes on teen texting and driving

Proposal would put the brakes on teen texting and driving

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Some Chicago aldermen are trying to make it impossible for teens to text while driving.

A proposed ordinance would require all cell phones sold in Chicago beginning in 2012 to have a feature that could sense when a phone is in a moving car. Texting would then be automatically disabled.

Alderman Anthony Beale, 9th, says parents should be able to control the feature. But he admits this type of technology does not exist yet.

“The City of Chicago is asking these carriers to put their minds together, put these programmers together and create these apps,” he said. “They’re creating hundreds of apps every single day. So why not … have someone charged with creating this app that will save lives?”

The ordinance has been assigned to a City Council committee.

Chicago outlawed texting and driving in 2008. And the state of Illinois made it illegal last year.