By Sarah Rose

Late one night, while stopped at a red light, sophomore Tucker Swiastyn received a text message. He responded and didn’t think to put his cell phone away before continuing to drive on. Soon after, he saw police lights flashing through his back window.

Swiastyn was one of the first five people in Kansas to get a ticket for violating the new texting and driving law. Swiastyn said the $90 fine will change his habits.

“I will stop,” he said. “I text less frequently.”

The law went into effect Jan. 1, and bans texting while driving. Local officers are hopeful that this law will help keep drivers’ attention on the road.

“It’s kind of a wake-up call that bad things can happen if you text while driving,” SRO and Overland Park police officer Keith Jenkins said.

If caught by an officer, a person can face fines and court costs. The ticket will not affect his or her license and it is still legal to talk on the phone while driving, which means the law may not be easy to enforce.

“It’s hard for us to tell if you’re making a phone call on your cell phone or texting,” Jenkins said. “It’s our wish that people comply [with the law] without having to be stopped.”

According to the All American Auto Transport, approximately 1,000 accidents a year involving teen drivers are caused by texting and driving and 21 percent of fatal crashes are due to cell phone use while in a vehicle.

Junior Erica Lang knows the dangers of texting while driving.

“My mom, this summer, was in an accident because of someone who was texting while driving,” Lang said. “It just really makes you think, ‘is this one text to send really worth the life of someone else?’ And it could have been that situation for my mom.”

Lang has never texted while driving; she doesn’t see any good in it.

“I don’t think that there is such an important text to respond to that you can’t wait until you’re done driving,” she said.

Doing just that, according to the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, could save an estimated 2,600 lives every year.