By KEITH UPCHURCH

kupchurch@heraldsun.com; 419-6612

DURHAM -- Drivers in Durham and throughout the state run the risk of getting slapped with $100 fines if they use their cell phones for text messaging beginning Dec. 1, but law officers say enforcing the new law might not be easy.

The law was passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Beverly Perdue this year. It makes it unlawful to use cell phones for text messaging and e-mailing while driving.

"I'm OK with it,'' Deputy Police Chief Ron Hodge said of the new law. But he said the hard part will be gathering enough evidence to take it to court.

Hodge said it may sometimes be hard to tell if a driver is texting or just talking on the cell phone, which will still be legal.

"You've got to see [the texting],'' he said. "And I don't know how you can see it'' in many situations.

For example, officers might have a hard time seeing a driver texting if they pass a car on a two-way street, he said.

But Hodge said he still approves of the law, and hopes it will deter drivers from a practice he believes is as dangerous as driving while drunk.

At the N.C. State Highway Patrol, troopers plan to enforce the texting law but also worry that it may often be hard to prove.

"If a trooper sees a clearcut, substantial violation and that happens to be texting, he's going to charge for it,'' said 1st Sgt. Cary Cain of the patrol's Durham-Granville county office.

"It will be difficult to enforce, which means to prove in court. Of course, if somebody has the device up in sight and they're going about the activity of texting, then that's not going to be hard. But if the device is out of sight, and all you see at first is erratic driving and you pull the vehicle over, at that point it just depends on what's obvious.''

"Let's say there's a woman and she put it in her pocketbook,'' he said. "Then you won't know.''

In Washington, Sen. Kay Hagan is co-sponsoring a bill in the that would require states to ban texting or e-mailing while driving or lose federal highway funds, according to her press secretary, Caitlin Legacki.

"People who text while driving are 23 times more likely to get in a car accident than those who are not texting while driving,'' Legacki said. "So it's really just a safety issue.''

She said Verizon and Spring are backing the North Carolina Democratic senator's bill.

"It's a common sense bill that will really help make our roads a lot safer,'' she said.