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The Tennessee General Assembly is considering a bill that would require all driver education courses to include instruction on the dangers of using hand-held mobile telephones or “personal digital assistants” to send or read a text message or email. Driver education courses would also be required to advise students that using such devices to send or read a written message is a crime and to inform them of the penalties for such a violation.
However, under current law, a violation of the texting while driving statute is a Class C misdemeanor and is punishable by a fine not to exceed $50 and court costs not to exceed $10. A violation of this statute is also considered a non-moving violation and no points are added to the driver’s record.
UPDATE: Effective July 1, 2016, first-time offenders of the texting while driving law will also be required to complete a driver education course in addition to having to pay the applicable fines and court costs. A violation is also now considered a moving violation.
