Tennessee Drivers Could Face Stiffer Penalties For Injuring Pedestrians And For Texting

Tennessee senators advanced two bills Monday that would increase penalties against drivers.

The first would address
drivers who kill or injure pedestrians by failing to yield. The new penalty would be up to a year in jail and a fine of nearly $3,000. Currently, the maximum is no jail time and $500 — which is a modification of standard misdemeanor sentencing.

Nashville Sen. Jeff Yarbro brought the bill in honor of 17-year-old Elena Zamora, a Hume Fogg High School student who was killed by a truck driver in 2013.

Her father, Vanderbilt University Spanish professor Andres Zamora, offered an emotional plea in favor of the tougher penalty, describing the loss of his daughter as a “mutilation” to her friends and family.

“A city with only cars and no pedestrians might be full of noises and roar, but it has only the feeling of a ghost town,” he said.

“Pedestrians seem to be nothing but ghosts to too many drivers … You seem not to count. You seem not to exist. Your value is $500.”

So proud of
@HumeFoggKnights for getting a school zone. Traffic cone yellow never looked so good Dr. Hargis
pic.twitter.com/k5SIroSEZ5— Stop! Take Notice (@StopTakeNotice)
August 21, 2015

The death of Elena 
Zamora
 also prompted a student advocacy movement called “
Stop! Take Notice
” that 
led to new crossing signals around the school
 on Broadway in downtown Nashville.

Close Vote On Texting-While-Driving

The same Senate Transportation Committee also voted in favor of
increasing the penalty for texting while driving.

In a close vote, senators chose to make texting a moving violation, which would add points to a driver’s license and require them to complete a driver’s education class.

The $50 penalty would remain the same.

But senators like Frank Niceley, R-Strawberry Plains, questioned whether it’s an overreaction.

“It’s already against the law. Traffic deaths are steady and declining the last five years. I just — with all due respect to the sponsor of this bill — I just don’t know that we need it,” he said.

Last year, officers ticketed 1,723 Tennesseans for texting behind the wheel.

Both bills await House considerations in subcommittees this week.