State law supecedes Oconee’s

The stroke of a pen this week by Governor Nikki Haley signed into law a bill that makes texting while driving illegal throughout South Carolina. It supercedes all other ordinances, such as Oconee County’s first-year law that forbids drivers’ use of communication devices while their vehicles are in motion. It also means that driving in Oconee with one ear pressed to the receiver of a cell phone is now permitted again—although Sheriff Mike Crenshaw hopes that, for safety, you do not do that unless you have a device that permits hands-free operation.