Abstract
Recent laws criminalizing texting while driving are under-inclusive, ambiguous, and impose light punishments that are unlikely to deter. At the same time, the laws empower police to conduct warrantless searches of drivers’ cell phones. Texting while driving is dangerous and should be punished with stiff fines, possible jail time, license suspensions, and interlock devices that prevent use of phones while driving. However, more severe punishment will not eliminate police authority to conduct warrantless cell phone searches. This Article therefore proposes that legislatures allow drivers to immediately confess to texting while driving in exchange for avoiding a search of their phones. Trading a confession for a search will encourage guilty pleas while reducing invasive, warrantless cell phone searches that are currently authorized under the Fourth Amendment.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Fall 2012
Publication Information
54 Arizona Law Review 577-620 (2012)
Repository Citation
Gershowitz, Adam M., "Texting While Driving Meets the Fourth Amendment: Deterring Both Texting and Warrantless Cell Phone Searches" (2012). Faculty Publications. 1280.
https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/facpubs/1280