South Dakota is getting closer to a statewide ban on texting while driving, with House and Senate versions moving through the Legislature in Pierre.

Sooner or later the two versions will become one, or they might become nothing at all.

But the process raises two questions for me: Will a ban stick and will it work?

I don't have an answer to either question, but I hope a ban, if it's approved and signed, will do some good.

The fact of the matter is, if someone is coming at me from the other direction on the street, road or highway, I want that person's full attention to be on driving.

My dad used to say "You have to drive the other car, too." Of course he meant that you have to anticipate what that other motorist is going to do, and you might have to react.

Is there an epidemic of texting behind the wheel? I don't know, but we've seen it happen in Sioux Falls and elsewhere--someone whose attention is on texting crashes and may even kill someone.

Would a law be effective? Maybe not, but it's a start, and it would put South Dakota in the right direction.

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