Texting while driving can become expensive very quickly now that Colorado has passed a new law increasing fines and license penalties for being caught in this particular type of distracted driving. The state is serious about not just texting, but all kinds of distracted driving. Distracted driving was a factor in 68 deaths and 15,574 crashes in Colorado in 2015, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.

Under newly signed Senate Bill 27, texting while driving will be punishable by a fine of $300 for each offense, compared with the old penalty of $50 for a first offense and $100 for each subsequent offense. And the penalty assessment against a violator’s driver’s license, now one point, has been pumped up to four points.

Also, a violator caught texting while driving can land in jail for 10 to 90 days. The penalties get more severe if the violator causes a person’s bodily injury or death – a fine up to $1,000 and a sentence of up to one year in prison, or both.

Read more at The Pueblo Chieftain.