6/18/04-A bill that would forbid drivers from watching television while behind the wheel has died.
HB818, sponsored by Rep. Jack Page, D-Gadsden, was in the House Public Safety Committee when it was indefinitely postponed May 5, effectively killing it for the year.
Under existing state law, it is unlawful for a television or other means of receiving a television broadcast to be located in a motor vehicle forward of the back of the driver’s seat where the driver can see it while driving.
The bill would have prohibited satellite video entertainment broadcasts, VCR or DVD transmissions or replays, or any other similar video entertainment presentations from being located in a motor vehicle where the driver can see it while driving.