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scope it out for January 19, 2010

Posted on Jan 19, 2010 in News

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Ala. House panel votes to ban texting while driving

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The Alabama Legislature has taken the first step toward banning drivers from sending or writing a text message while operating a vehicle on a public road.

The House Public Safety Committee approved a bill Wednesday that would fine a driver $25 for the first conviction for texting while driving.

A driver would be fined $50 for a second conviction and $75 for each subsequent violation.

The committee amended the bill to require the driver to pay court costs if convicted.

The bill would also cause one point to be charged to the record of the driver. A person can lose his or her license after accumulating 12 points.

A similar bill passed the House last year, but died in the Senate.
 

Ala legislator not hurt in one-vehicle accident

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — State Rep. Steve Hurst escaped injury when the truck he was driving ran off a Coosa County road and struck a tree on the night before the start of the 2010 session of the Legislature.

Hurst was returning to his home in Munford in Talladega County Monday night from meetings in Montgomery when the accident occurred about 10:30 p.m., state troopers spokeswoman Martha Earnhardt said Thursday.

Earnhardt said the trooper responding to the accident reported detecting “a faint odor of alcohol’’ in the car, but said alcohol was not a contributing factor in the accident.

The 61-year-old Hurst said he swerved to miss hitting a deer and ran off the road hitting a hole and then a tree.

Hurst said he had not been drinking. He said the odor probably came from a can of gasoline in the back of his truck.
Hurst, a former Talladega County commissioner, said the trooper at the scene asked him if he had been drinking and he told him “absolutely not.’’ He said the trooper did not ask him to take a field sobriety test.

Earnhardt said at the scene Hurst gave the trooper his legislative identification card, but did not ask for any kind of immunity or special treatment.

Earnhardt did not release the name of the trooper who investigated the accident, but said it would be available when the full accident report is released.

Hurst said he called friends to come get him and take him home after the accident.

Ala. man charged with impersonating officer

ANNISTON, Ala. (AP) — Calhoun County authorities say a 21-year-old man who allegedly pulled over several drivers and asked them to slow down is charged with impersonating a police officer.

Scotty Warren was a Civil Defense volunteer and a security guard at Anniston’s Regional Medical Center.

Last month, authorities stopped Warren for speeding. The Anniston Star reports that police say he had a blue light on his car and a badge similar to those worn by sheriff’s deputies.

Police say Warren told a police officer he worked for the coroner’s office. Oxford police Chief Bill Partridge said the the agency contacted the coroner and sheriff’s offices. Neither had a record of Warren as an employee.

Partridge says Warren also had a police uniform he’d purchased on eBay.
 

Alabama Power customers set record demand

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — The freezing temperatures have caused customers of Alabama Power Co. to set a new record for electrical usage during the wintertime.

Company spokesman Pat Wylie said Wednesday the record had been set in January 2008, but customers topped that three times during the cold spell. The new peak was set Monday with 11,587 megawatts.

Wylie said Alabama Power had no issues with meeting customers’ requirements, and the record demand during the cold wave coincided with a rate reduction that started Jan. 1.
 

 

 

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