By Kimberly Hopson
L’Observateur

LAPLACE – As of Aug. 1, the use of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter while driving is illegal in the state of Louisiana.
The actual wording of the law says that drivers may not “access, read or post to a social networking site.” It goes on to say that the law will not apply to a driver who “reads, selects or enters a telephone number or name in a wireless telecommunications device for the purpose of making a telephone call.”
According to data reports from the Highway Safety Research Group, there were 1,853 crashes in Louisiana in which the driver was distracted by a cellphone or other electronic device in 2011. There were 146,169 other instances in which the driver was not reported to be distracted. St. Charles Parish reported 31 instances of distracted driving crashes in 2011. St. John Parish reported 15, and St. James, 6.
St. John the Baptist Parish Traffic Division Cmdr. Troy Cassioppi said the law will act as an enhancement to the ban on texting and driving but thinks that it will be hard to enforce.
“I think it’s going to help us because a lot of crashes are caused by distracted drivers. But it may not show up in the statistics because for policemen it’s hard to prove. No one is going to admit they were texting or on Facebook,” he said.
“It’s going to be tough, because you have to actually catch them in the act. We may pull up alongside somebody, and it looks like they’re on their phone, but they’re actually dialing somebody. Overall, I think it’s a good law. If people obey the law it would help us tremendously,” he continued.
Cassioppi said he deals with a lot of rear-end crashes in the area, and very few drivers will admit that they were distracted at the time of the crash. The officer also said that the law may not include drivers who text at red lights.
District 13 Sen. Dale M. Erdey authored the original bill.
The law also requires driver’s license applicants to be tested on their knowledge of distracted driving issues. Previous laws only banned texting while driving. According to reports, the bill to add social media to the ban was approved during the 2013 legislation. Gov. Bobby Jindal signed it into law on May 30.