Lawmaker vows action on anti-texting legislation

By Noah Bierman, Globe Staff

The co-chairman of the Legislature’s transportation committee pledged today that a bill banning automobile drivers from using text messaging devices on the road remains a priority, even though the provision was taken out of the budget bill that passed last week.

“I think that’s next on the agenda,” said Senator Steven A. Baddour, a Methuen Democrat. “There’s consensus around that.”

Baddour said the Ways and Means Committee removed the measure from the final version of the budget because it was not related to spending. He said the Legislature would consider the issue as a separate bill, but said he did not yet have a timeline for debating it.

A driver safety organization, Safe Roads Alliance, has planned a rally for Thursday at Boston City Hall Plaza urging lawmakers to pass a bill. Mayor Thomas M. Menino and Melissa Martin, whose daughter was killed in a car crash caused by texting, will attend, according to a press release from the organization.