Drivers may have to put that phone down or face consequences.
Efforts in the Texas Legislature would create a statewide ban on texting while driving.
TxDOT says injuries and deaths related to distracted driving rise every year. In 2014, 468 people died from distracted driving; the following year, it reached nearly 500.
Texas lawmakers have tried numerous times to ban texting while driving. It came closest during the 2011 legislative session. The bill passed both the House and Senate, but then-Gov. Rick Perry vetoed it, dismissing it as a nanny state sort of intrusion.