'On July 1, sending or receiving text messages while driving will be banned in both Virginia and Tennessee'

So begins an editorial in today's Charlottesville Daily Progress, republished from a May 6, 2009 editorial in the Bristol Herald Courier.

Wait a minute.

If someone out of the blue sends me a text message while I'm driving, I've broken the law?

If my phone beeps and the little envelope icon for a text message appears on the screen, I'm subject to being fined?

What if the message automatically displays without my pressing any button or saying anything — no exceptions?

The new law makes receiving a text a secondary offense, meaning "... police must see a driver committing a more serious offense to justify the stop."

Does this mean that just having a phone that's turned on while driving indicates intent?

People wonder why there's so much contempt for the law.

It begins with regarding it as silly and laughable, and proceeds from there.