Video: Texting and Driving in Mississippi Update

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MISSISSIPPI ( WCBI) — It’s been a little over a month since drivers on Mississippi roads have been told to put down their phones.

Sending a quick ” on my way” or even just an emoji while behind the wheel can cost you in Mississippi.

But The Mississippi Highway Patrol says enforcing the new no texting law isn’t that easy.

“I can’t demand your phone, or take your phone from you,” says Master Sergeant Criss Turnipseed.

Master Sergeant Criss Turnipseed says it’s still hard to prove, so…

“They’re probably gonna fall back on what they know we can do, careless driving or reckless driving, which we know we can prove.”

While emailing, text and social media will get you pulled over, navigating while driving and paying attention to what your GPS is saying isn’t illegal.

That’s where that reckless or careless driving law picks up the slack.

Master Sergeant Turnipseed says despite enforcement being tough, in a fatal wreck, the law can be the difference between an accident and manslaughter.

” You run into somebody and maybe kill the occupant, or a passenger in that vehicle, if we have probable cause to believe texting and driving caused that accident, Then we go to the courts and request a subpoena to subpoena the drivers phone records,” says Turnipseed.

Turnipseed says modifications could be made to the law down the road– making it stricter , but for now the Highway Patrol will continue to do what it can to keep Mississippians safe.