Oregon Public Broadcasting

Idaho is close to joining Oregon and Washington in banning texting-while-driving.  Proponents are trying to push through a bill before lawmakers in Boise wrap up their legislative session, perhaps Tuesday.

Three weeks ago, the Idaho Senate approved a bill that would have added texting while driving to the state's inattentive driving law.

Its maximum penalty would be stiff: 90 days in jail and a $300 fine. But the Idaho House shelved the bill.

One of the Senate sponsors of that bill, Republican John McGee, thinks he knows why.

“They're serious penalties for inattentive driving and I think those penalties scared off some folks, some folks who maybe thought that our bill, the original Senate bill, went too far,” McGee said.

But the concept never died. Last Friday, a new texting while driving bill was introduced with milder penalties -- a $50 fine for a first offense and $100 for every one after that. It sailed through the House in one day and the Senate put it on the fast track.

The bill applies only to texting. Unlike drivers in Oregon and Washington, Idaho motorists can stay behind the wheel with a cell phone to their ear.