State Sen. Buzz Thomas, D-Detroit, introduced a bill March 19 that could mean Kurkowski and other Michiganians who text while driving could be fined for doing so.

“It’s incredibly dangerous and it’s not something that’s necessary while you’re driving your car,” said Dennis Denno, chief of staff for Thomas.

Under the bill, texting while driving would be considered a misdemeanor, and the driver could receive a $100 fine.

It would be a secondary offense, which means drivers would not be pulled over for text messaging alone, but must also have committed another driving offense, such as speeding.

Capt. Kim Johnson of the East Lansing Police Department said it could be hard for police to determine if a driver was texting.

“People look down for various reasons while in the car,” he said. “I guess if the phone was up by the windshield, we could see it. But if it’s down in their lap, we wouldn’t have a clue.”

Because it is easy to keep a phone concealed from view while text messaging, Kurkowski said her behavior probably wouldn’t change if the bill passes.

There is no evidence to suggest that texting while driving has caused an increase car accidents in East Lansing, Johnson said.

“But from a police standpoint, our main responsibility is public safety, and whatever is out there that would help safety in automobiles is a good thing,” he said.

The bill would allow drivers to text while at a stoplight or during an emergency, Denno said.

But because the driver could have a family emergency the police officer would have no knowledge about, it could be difficult to determine what situations are emergencies, Johnson said.

“It would just depend on what the driver would tell us, if he happened to get stopped,” he said.