Living up to its reputation as breaking from the wireless industry pack, Verizon Wireless is throwing its support behind the legislation introduced yesterday in the U.S. Senate that would effectively ban texting and e-mailing while driving.

“We support federal legislation to ban texting and e-mailing while driving,” Verizon Wireless Vice President and General Counsel Steven Zipperstein said in a statement. “This approach is a logical extension of our previous breaks with other wireless companies to support statewide legislation banning texting and e-mailing while driving. We applaud Senator Schumer and the Senate sponsors for their leadership.”

Verizon Wireless notes that it set itself apart from the rest of its competitors in the U.S. wireless industry by supporting statewide hands-free driving laws as early as 2000. Since then, Verizon Wireless says it has been the only wireless company supporting bans on texting and e-mailing while driving.