What do Oprah, the Department of Transportation, the Auto Club, insurance companies and, state governors have in common? The US Department of Transportation recently proposed to ban text messaging at the wheel by interstate truck and bus drivers. This regulatory action follows up on its call to lessen the number of distractions that lead to crashes. The proposal would make permanent an interim ban put in place in January by the Transportation Secretary. The proposed ban applies to drivers of passenger buses and commercial trucks operating vehicles weighing more than ten thousand pounds.
To give an idea of the serious nature of the problem, the drivers could face civil penalties and/or even criminal charges. The United States Transportation Department reported that 5,870 people were killed and over a half million were injured in 2008 in accidents involving distracted drivers. They didn’t speculate how many of those deaths and injuries involved cell phone. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration echoes the Transportation Department statistics with projection that about eighty percent of crashes are caused by driver distraction. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety is sponsoring research to determine the extent of the distracted driver problem. The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) states that driver inattention is a leading factor in many accidents, and mobile phone use and texting are leading causes of driver distractions. States aren’t waiting for research reports and are enacting new laws dealing with cell phone use and texting . The GHSA reports that currently 20 states and the District of Columbia ban all drivers from sending text messages while behind the wheel. An additional nine states prohibiting texting by beginner drivers. The remaining states are expected to implement the ban before too long. But it is also believed that the laws are not enough to stop the problem and technology is neede.
The Governors Highway Safety Association says it supports texting bans for all drivers, but has doubts about enforcement. Their software is installed on Android and BlackBerry cell phones and monitors GPS location, and text messages along with other phone log activity. The trucking and passenger bus industries support the text message prohibition, and many corporations have enforced policies against texting when behind the wheel. The government, industry and safety organizations all agree that distracted drivers caused bysending text messages is a menace to society, and is worthy of action. Advocates for dealing with the problem also include celebrity Oprah Winfrey. The issue is emerging as a new phenomenon. As navigation systems, cellphones and other mobile electronics have become common in cars and trucks, safety advocates and the government have pushed for restrictions.
