Declarations – Southeast

Text Message

“Signing this bill sends a message that drivers need to focus on driving — not on sending a text. There is nothing so urgent that it is worth risking your life, or the lives of others, by sending a text message while you are driving down the road.”

—Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley signing a law that prohibits texting while driving. Alabama joins 37 other states with driver texting bans. The law is effective Aug. 1.

Cyber Victim

“I was upset that my friends would turn on me like that. I was crying. It was hard to go to school the next day.”

—Georgia student Alex Boston, 14, who is suing fellow students who created a phony Facebook page with racial and sexual comments with her name on it.

No to 80/20

“Senators from other states come to us and say, ‘Well, we’ll go ahead and pass this bill where we’ll let you keep some of the BP oil spill money, but only if you agree to allow us to get some of that money for the Great Lakes, for California, for other parts of the country that have nothing to do with the oil spill.”

—Sen. Marco Rubio, R.-Fla., opposing a bill to give Gulf coast states only 80 percent of the fines levied from the 2010 oil spill.

Switching Carriers

“Although fewer consumers are shopping for insurance, more current customers who do are willing to make a switch based on competitive quotes.”

—J.D. Power survey showing while only 25 percent of auto insurance customers shopped for a new policy last year, 43 percent of them switched carriers.