While texting is not expressly forbidden in Arizona, a police officer may cite a texter for reckless driving under current law, and that has caused some lawmakers to question the need for a ban. But most of the opposition seems to stem from Arizona's freedom-loving ways -- many residents are resistant to government telling people what to do and what not to do.

With mounting evidence that using cell phones while driving can kill, Arizona may be finally ready to overcome three years of resistance and pass the anti-texting bill. First proposed in 2007, anti-texting bills have heretofore faced enough legislator opposition to preclude passage in the state.

Under S.B. 1334, the anti-texting law that has already passed the Arizona Senate, texting while driving would be considered a non-moving traffic violation subject to a $50 fine. The bill would outlaw writing, sending or reading messages on cell phones or similar devices.

But even if the bill becomes law, Arizona's anti-regulation stance will be reflected in the bill's enforcement. While a police officer would be able to issue a ticket upon observing a driver texting, he would not be authorized to confiscate a driver's phone to check the message history and determine if the driver was texting in traffic. The bill would also exempt drivers from tickets if they pull over to text or use their cell phones solely to make telephone calls.

Public safety advocates are concerned that the law may actually weaken penalties for texting while driving. If cited under current Arizona law for reckless driving, a texter would face up to four months in jail and a $750 fine, far more substantial than the penalty provided in S.B. 1334.

In support of its texting ban, DOT's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) cited evidence that drivers sending and receiving texts take their eyes off the road for 4.6 out of every six seconds. To emphasize the significance of this degree of inattention, FMCSA explained that a driver texting at 55 miles per hour typically drives the distance of a football field including end zones without looking at the road.

Truckers who violate the federal texting ban are subject to fines up to $2,750.

The DOT's focus on truckers represents a major step in advancing highway safety. The Washington Post, citing government data, reported in July that of the 37,200 traffic fatalities in 2008, about 11 percent involved large trucks. One of those crashes killed a child on a school bus struck by an 18-wheeler.

Distracted driving, including texting and other distractions, has been found to be a factor in 80 percent of all vehicle crashes and 16 percent of all vehicle fatalities.

Statistics illuminating the dangers of drag racing on a national scale are sparse; the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration documented 135 fatal car accidents attributed drag racing in 2001. But while drag racing may be illegal and all too often deadly, the drag racers who crashed into Holman's vehicle may escape accountability for his death. Under Arizona law, because Holman was turning left, he was responsible for assuring that his path was clear. Had Holman been driving in a straight path or making a right turn, there would be no doubt that the drag racers were responsible for his death.

Under A.R.S. 28-772, the driver of a vehicle turning left in an intersection is obligated to yield to a vehicle approaching from the opposite direction that is within the intersection or so close as to constitute an immediate hazard. The attorney general has interpreted this statute as allowing drivers to make left turns only when it is safe to do so. Arizona courts have upheld this interpretation, ruling in Smith v. Johnson in 1995 that Arizona's left turn statute is one of negligence per se, eliminating due care as a defense when a driver making a left turn is involved in a crash.

In fact, Aronica worked out a favorable plea bargain, but the judge rejected it after a public outcry. Aronica's sentencing is now scheduled for March.

A crash six months before the one that killed Holman underscores the problems with the state's negligence per se left-turn law. When Robert Logan Myers III sped through a red light, crashing into a car driven by Guadalupe Pedraza, five members of Pedraza's family were killed, and a little girl passenger was paralyzed for life.

The left-turn law shielded Myers, as it threatens to shield Van Brakel and Aronica: Myers' defense attorney argued that Pedraza's duty to yield extended even to a vehicle speeding through the red light. Myers was sentenced to a mere year in prison with "work release" seven days per week from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., followed by four years of probation and $450,000 in restitution.

Whether it's drag racing or other illegal driver behavior that leads to a crash in Arizona, woe be to any victim who happens to be making a left turn at the time of the collision.