Crackdown on texting while driving passes Virginia Senate

Police are a step closer to gaining the authority to nab motorist who text, check Facebook, tweet or email from behind the wheel.

The Virginia Senate voted Tuesday to make it a primary offense to operate a handheld device while driving, elevating it from a secondary offense status, which means a driver could be penalized for it only after being pulled over for some other offense. Under the bill, police would be able to pull over a driver for texting on the road.