McCrory wants crackdown on texting while driving
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory says he wants to see a crackdown on underage drinking and texting while driving in our state.
The governor made those priorities known Thursday morning when he dropped in on a meeting of an impaired driving task force.
During the meeting, the task force -- which is made up of various law enforcement officers and people from different transportation and substance abuse backgrounds -- presented sobering statistics. In 2013, North Carolina saw close to 11,000 impaired driving crashes and close to 350 impaired driving related deaths.
The task force said it is seeking to cut down on those numbers, and are working on their final plan, which is due in July.
The governor offered some input, and outlined some areas that are especially concerning to him.
Among those issues, McCrory said he's already pushing to crack down on underage drinking. But he also wants to crackdown on texting while driving.
"And it's deadly; it's as deadly as drunk driving. I'm convinced of that more than ever now," he said. "So I need your advice on how to deal with that also."
At least one officer on the force said enforcing those laws and getting convictions for things such as texting while driving can sometimes be difficult to prove in court.
