Lawmakers late Sunday approved the ban on texting while driving as a midnight deadline approached. Drivers caught reading or typing a text message or email in their car can be fined upward of $200.
Republican Rep. Tom Craddick sold the proposal as a public-safety measure, but the bill brought triggered more than a half-hour of debate on the House floor. Opponents said the bill would amount to criminalizing drivers simply for receiving a text message while driving.
San Antonio and El Paso already have laws forbidding texting while driving, and at least 30 other states have enacted similar statewide bans.
