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• "There are other ways to influence our culture, to teach people that texting while driving is not socially accepted," said Rep. Jon Hansen, R-Dell Rapids.
• The bill's main sponsor, Sen. Mike Vehle, R-Mitchell, said he's disappointed the bill was killed after no one testified against it in both the Senate and House committee hearings. He said House supporters might try to resurrect the bill, but he will propose the measure again next year if it doesn't pass this year.
• "''I'll be back," Vehle said.
• Janeane Christensen pushed the bill's passage, talking about her family's anguish over the 2010 death of her husband, Jon. Then-20-year-old Justin Iburg was checking texts on his cellphone when he slammed into two cars and a motorcycle, killing Jon.
• "It's an ambulance ride I'll never forget," Christensen told the committee.
• "There's no more father-and-son trips, and my daughter had a special bond with her father that can never be replaced. ... It's time something be done so maybe another family won't have to go through this pain."
• Iburg also urged its passage, his voice cracking with emotion as he read the newspaper obituary for the man he killed.
• "I tore their family apart," he said of the Christensens.
• Iburg was acquitted of second-degree manslaughter in Jon Christensen's death, but he was convicted of reckless driving. He gave up his driver's license for five years and talks about the dangers of distracted driving as part of his criminal sentence.
• "I didn't see it as breaking the law," Iburg said. "If this had been a law, I would've thought twice before reading a pointless text."
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