It takes an average of 30 seconds to send a text message from a cell phone; unfortunately, it takes less than that to change your life while behind the wheel of a car.

    Texting while driving killed over 200 people last year on Kentucky roads alone.That is why on April 15, Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear signed a new bill into law that made it illegal to text while driving. 
    The law officially goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2011.

However, if you get pulled over for this offense before that date, state and local police     will issue you a warning. If you do get pulled over after Jan. 1, you will be fined $25 for a first offense and $50 for each offense after that, plus the costs of court.     
    According to House Bill 415, “no person shall, while operating a motor vehicle that is in motion on the traveled portion of a roadway, write, send, or read text-based communication using a personal communication device to manually communicate with any person using text-based communication, including but not limited to communications referred to as a text message, instant message, or electronic mail.” 
    The one key demographic this law hits hard on is Kentucky’s teenagers. According to a Reader’s Digest report in 2008, young drivers account for more accidents than any other age group due to inexperience. 
    Combine this with the additional hazards of distracted driving, and one has a deadly mixture that is set for disaster, but Kentucky was ranked as a state with some of the toughest driving laws in the nation. 
    Another thing most teens do not realize also is that texting while driving can be just as dangerous as drinking while driving. A study done by Car and Driver Magazine showed that, in fact, driving while texting impaired a driver’s reaction time by triple of when the same driver was drunk while driving. 
    Fortunately, Kentucky has precautions, in addition to the bill, set up to educate young drivers on the dangers of distracted driving. One of these training tools is called the Distracted Driving Simulator.

    The simulator consists of three flat panel monitors, a steering wheel, and gas and brake pedals. This also includes specialized software that mimics what a person would see on the road.

    The driver then is given some form of distraction such as a cell phone or GPS and is told to drive the virtual course.

    In most cases the driver either ends up wrecking the car, or hitting an unsuspecting pedestrian. This then indicates that the driver was therefore distracted and impaired.

Tools like this have been taken around the state to different high schools such as Murray High School to teach the dangers of distracted driving. 
    “It sounds like a pretty good idea to me,” said junior Andrew Phan.

    “It seems like it would be fairly engaging and interesting, while being educational.” While these different tools can help out with this texting epidemic, they alone cannot help change students habits. The problem of this is that teens believe that it cannot happen to them. 
    “I believe it can happen to me, but I don’t ever expect it to,” said junior Austin Hatfeild. This new law should cut down on the dangerous rate of teen accidents caused by texting behind the wheel, or at least that is the hope from state lawmen. 
    “I fought hard to see legislation to ban texting while driving get through the process simply because I believed, and still believe, it is important legislation that will not only save lives, but has the opportunity to train generations of new drivers with safer driving habits,” said state senator Denise Harper-Angel. 
    “These younger drivers will be prohibited from using cell phones during the first six months of their driving experience. I am thrilled that we have finally taken steps to reduce accidents related to texting.”