Federal Ban Placed On Texting For Commercial Drivers
By Donald Griffith on February 1, 2010, 3:50 pmThursday, January 28, 2010, U.S. Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood, announced that texting while driving is now illegal for commercial drivers. With a rising epidemic of crashes in this country, most due to driver error, this is the next in a series of moves orchestrated to raise public awareness about the dangers of driving while distracted.
Distracted Drivers
Eighty percent of all crashes and 65 percent of near collisions are caused by some form of distraction according to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) funded study. Increases in the function and complexity of new cell phones and PDA’s will continue to worsen this situation as using such devices while driving has been shown to reduce a driver’s reaction time as much drinking alcohol. Although most would agree that talking on a cellular phone while driving is dangerous, the issue of texting has not been addressed because it was an issue specific to younger groups. Texting, in particular, requires a combination of visual, manual and cognitive processes that make this practice even more distracting than talking on a cellular phone.
Substantial and Consistent Penalties
Additional NHTSA research shows that 93 percent of accidents involving commercial vehicles occur because of driver error. As only 19 states have prohibited texting while operating any vehicle with varied consequences, this law provides strong, consistent and nationwide regulation of an issue that affected over half a million drivers in 2008. This law required federal legislation because commercial drivers need to pass federal requirements to travel on national highways as opposed to regular vehicle licenses that are regulated by state. Commercial drivers of large vehicles such as trucks and buses face criminal and civil penalties up to $2750 if cited under the new legislation. Law enforcement, however, may find it difficult to catch drivers in the actual act of texting until an accident occurs. And then, phone timestamps will need to be correlated within a realistic time frame to the accident in order to prove the driver has violated this law.
Ongoing Battle
Nevertheless, safety advocates have hailed this NHTSA ban as proof of the agency’s commitment to reducing crashes from distracted driving through driver awareness, education and legislation. Although the nature of distracted driving can be difficult to quantify statistically, research is ongoing. Visit www.distraction.gov for further information on the federal campaign to reduce motor vehicle related deaths and injuries due to this alarming trend.
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