House approves tighter restrictions on drunken boating and texting while driving

• Published in: Capital Watch [Hartford courant - BLOG]
• Format: Web Resource
• Language: English
• Published: Hartford Newstex 05.05.2010

The House gave final legislative approval to a measure that would allign Connecticut's drunken-boating law with its drunken driving law by eliminating time restrictions on when blood alcohol tests may be administered if expert testimony establishes the reliability of the test. There is currently a two-hour window for testing someone suspected of boating under the influence.The House also backed a bill that a bill that would specify that texting while driving is against the law and is subject to the same penalties as using a cellphone while driving. The bill would increase those penalties.Under the bill, drivers stopped for the first time for talking on their phone without a hands-free device or texting would no longer get off with a warning. Instead, lawbreakers would be fined $100.A second violation would come with a $150 fine, and subsequent offenses would bring a $200 fine.Cities and towns would get 25 percent of the money collected for each summons.The Senate approved the texting on Monday and the boating bill on Saturday.