The U.S. has banned texting for commercial bus and truck drivers, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said today in Washington. Violators may be subject to civil or criminal penalties of as much as $2,750,
LaHood has made the issue a priority after more than 5,800 people died in 2008 in accidents where at least one form of driver distraction was cited in the crash report. Today’s move comes almost four months after President Barack Obama banned the nation’s almost 3 million federal employees from texting while driving on the job.
Research shows that drivers take their eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds for every 6 seconds spent sending and receiving text messages, the Transportation Department said in a statement.
Today’s ban doesn’t apply to in-cab computers, according to the Transportation Department. Drivers for shippers such as FedEx Corp. and United Parcel Service Inc. use portable computers in their vehicles to scan package deliveries and drop- offs and respond to messages from dispatchers.
“UPS fully supports the Transportation Department’s approach to this issue,” said Norman Black, a spokesman for Atlanta-based UPS. “UPS is known for its commitment to safe driving and as a matter of policy and training, UPS drivers cannot use their handheld computers or their cell phones while driving.”
The Department of Transportation has launched a national nonprofit organization dedicated to ending distracted driving in the U.S. at Distraction.gov. Phoning while driving, says the DOT, is a cause of many accidents.
We will work across the spectrum with private and public entities as well as advocacy groups to tackle distracted driving, and, we will lead by example. We have taken first steps — The President’s Executive Order has established a new way to approach driving – by putting your device down and paying attention to the task at hand.
LaHood’s announcement followed a study released in July by Virginia Tech’s Transportation Institute that found that when truckers text, they are 23 times more likely to be involved in a crash or near miss. LaHood fans can join his Facebook page.
USA Today has a map of states with texting bans. According to USA Today, the fight against distracted driving may be at a tipping point as 23 states debate legislation to ban texting while driving, a practice 19 states already prohibit.
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