Personal Injury Law

Federal Government Bans Texting While Driving For Truckers/Bus Drivers

By Mark Siesel, Esq.

We have several written articles recently about the dangers of distracted driving, which has led to numerous fatal accidents and serious car crashes, and has become a huge safety issue with people continuing to text after they start driving their vehicles. Now the federal government has decided to get involved. On January 26, 2010, the U.S. government officially banned truck drivers and bus drivers from sending text messages while driving, in a move that was widely supported and promoted by trucking and transportation companies.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Raymond LaHood has made the reduction of distracted driving a priority of his tenure. 19 states previously banned texting while driving, and late last year, New York made texting while driving a secondary offense, by which drivers can only be charged with texting while driving if they are also commiitting another traffic infraction such as speeding or disregarding a traffic control device. New York Senator Chuck Shumer noted that the ban is "a giant step forward for safety on our roads, but we must do more..." Shumer was referring to a push in Congress to ban texting while driving in cars and mass transit, which has reportedly faced opposition by wireless carriers and the mobile phone industry.

Drivers of commerical vehicles caught texting while driving could face fines of up to $2,750.00. A study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute released last year found that truckers were 23 times more likely to be involved in a car crash or close call when texting while driving. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration found in their study that texting drivers take their eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 of each 6 seconds, which at 55mph would have their vehicles traveling a complete football field without the drivers looking at the road!

Full post as published by New York Legal Blog on January 28, 2010 (boomark / email).