British Columbia: Distracted driving news

Public safety officials say British Columbia’s distracted driving law has saved 16 lives and resulted in a 12 percent drop in serious injuries since it went into effect a year ago. The estimates were based on a comparison with deaths and injuries in 2008-2009.

Police in British Columbia say they issued almost 35 percent more tickets in 2011 for distracted driving than in the previous year. In 2011, 27 people reportedly died in British Columbia crashes linked to distracted driving.

In the Lower Mainland, 32,266 tickets were written for distracted or inattentive driving in 2011, the District Regional Police Service said.

Victoria police say they average one distracted driving ticket per day.

Province-wide, police wrote more than 46,000 citations for use of handheld electronic devices between Feb. 1, 2010 (when the law started), and Sept. 20, 2011. About 1,370 tickets were handed out for texting or emailing, safety officials reported Jan. 6, 2012.

“While the statistics show that we have seen a reduction in fatalities and serious injuries, far too many people are not getting the message,” said Shirley Bond, the minister of Public Safety.

In the Lower Mainland, areas covered by the RCMP experienced a 38 percent drop in fatalities in 2011, a decline credited in part to distracted driving laws. (60 fatalities vs. 97 in 2010.)

(View the full Canadian distracted driving news report.)

Vancouver police say that distracted driving now ranks as the No. 1 contributor to the metropolitan area’s fatal vehicle crashes.

Vancouver police wrote more than 2,100 tickets during the RCMP’s distracted driving offensive that ran through the month of September. Infractions for use of handheld electronic devices while driving in 2011 were about double what they were in 2010, the RCMP said.

Officers in the Lower Mainland and Nanaimo report infractions are on the way up. Nanaimo RCMP are running regular distracted driving sweeps.

B.C. poll: Three-quarters of British Columbia motorists consider text messaging or talking on a handheld cell phone as risky as drunken driving, according to a poll released Aug. 30. Almost 90 percent considered “texting or emailing on a hand held device” as very risky behavior. Two-thirds had the same opinion when asked just about the cell phones. …

More than half of the British Columbia drivers, 53 percent, said they witness others breaking the texting/cell phone laws “several times a day.” Only 16 percent admitted to breaking the distracted driving laws in the past year. The Ipsos Reid poll (conducted online with an established panel) accounted for 917 adult British Columbia drivers.

February’s Distracted Driving Campaign across British Columbia resulted in more than 3,000 citations for use of handheld phones or text messaging. The fine is $167 with the possibility of points against the driver’s license.

“From a policing perspective it is disappointing to see the numbers that high,” a spokesman for the “E” Division Traffic Services said.

British Columbia’s texting and handheld cell phone bans resulted in 32,665 tickets in the distracted driving laws’ first year (ending Jan. 1, 2011). The RCMP says 32 percent of B.C. vehicle fatalities in 2010 were linked to distracted driving (104 deaths). In the Lower Mainland regions covered by the mounties, the figure was 48 percent (45 deaths).

The British Columbia Automobile Association conducted a survey in January 2011 that follows up on its six-month report on the law against distracted driving — this time at the one-year mark.

The BCAA says handheld cell phone use and text messaging has been greatly reduced since the province’s ban went into effect. But plenty of drivers say they still see others using mobile phones.

“In (the) previous survey conducted at the six-month mark, we learned that most drivers were aware of the new law and were complying with it,” said Trace Acres, BCAA’s director of corporate communications and public affairs. “What we want to find out now is if compliance is increasing or if drivers are slipping back into their old habits. We also want to know if drivers feel the law has improved their own driving, along with the effect it has had on road safety generally.”

The one-year survey results will be posted in early February.

The BCAA survey in June and July 2010 found only 6 percent of the respondents saying they continue to use handheld cell phones while driving. But 77 percent of those surveyed (readers its web site and e-newsletter) said they saw other drivers yakking and driving at least once a week. Based on the responses, “it is particularly encouraging to see the significant number of drivers who either pull off the road to make or take a call, or are no longer using a phone at all,” a BCAA spokesman said.

The Vancouver Sun reports that on a per-capita basis, B.C. is handing out more than twice as many charges than Ontario.

The British Columbia bans went into effect Jan. 1, 2010, but there was a month’s warning period. Tickets cost $167. Up to three points could be assessed against a text-messaging or emailing driver.

Before adopting its cell phone/text messaging bans, the British Columbia government had asked the public to fill out a distracted driving study that came with seven questions regarding the issue of cell phoning and text messaging.

About 25 percent of traffic accidents in British Columbia are linked to distracted driving behaviors such as use of cell phones, the Office of the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles said in June 2009. The distractions lead to 117 deaths per year, the OSMV report says. Drivers were equally distracted by handheld cell phones and cell phones with hands-free devices attached, said the report, which was actually a “review of distracted driving research.”

The British Columbia Association of Chiefs of Police adopted a resolution calling for a ban on handheld cell phone use while driving.

“The data and evidence is overwhelming that people are more likely to be involved in an accident while on a cellphone when they are driving,” said the president of the BCACP, Supt. Bill McKinnon. The vote came on June 17, 2009.

Alberta: Distracted driving news

In Edmunton, police wrote 778 tickets over the first four months of the province’s new distracted driving laws. The vast majority were for use of handheld cell phones, although a handful also were written for GPS use, reading, grooming and general distraction, police figures show.

February will see increased enforcement of the handheld cell phone law, as it’s been designated distracted driving month under the Alberta Traffic Safety Plan.

Alberta’s new distracted driving rules went into effect Sept. 1. The Alberta Motor Association estimates that 3,000 tickets were written in the law’s first four months. The fine for violations is $172.

In Calgary, police have handed out 1,456 tickets under the distracted driving laws, they said at the end of January. The first three months of distracted driving enforcement yielded 950 tickets.

Calgary police said at year’s end that local drivers have returned to their old distracted driving habits.

The “new distracted driving law is a good addition to our overall strategy to keep Albertans safer while on the road,” province Minister of Transportation Luke Ouellette said just before enforcement of the new laws began. “We want all drivers to practice safe driving habits to ensure we all return home safely at the end of each day.”

In Edmonton, police reported 207 distracted driving tickets in September (the first month), 150 in October and at least 89 in November. Most tickets were for using a mobile phone while driving. In Calgary, the first month of distracted driving enforcement yielded 280 tickets and 150 warnings. The majority of tickets were for handheld cell phone use.

One of the first distracted driving tickets went to a commuter eating chow mein behind the wheel, the Edmonton Journal reported.

Read about Alberta’s new distracted driving laws.

Alberta’s lawmakers approved the government’s distracted driving Bill 16 on Nov. 17, 2010. The new law bans handheld cell phones (hands-free OK) as well as PDAs and other handheld electronic communications devices. Texting will be banned. Also prohibited would be personal grooming, non-commercial use of CB radios, writing, drawing, sketching and use of certain video screens. Fine of $172, no demerits.

Transport Minister Luke Ouellette said June 22 while announcing the Sept. 1 start date: “This new law is the most comprehensive distracted driving law in the country. No other jurisdiction in Canada addresses such a wide range of driving distractions.”

Minister of Public Security Frank Oberle also weighed in: “We are sending an extremely strong traffic safety message to motorists across the province: When you’re in your vehicle, your focus must be on driving.”

The RCMP in Alberta didn’t wait for the new provincial government law. It targeted distracted drivers in February 2011. Under current law, careless driving can bring fines of $402 and 6 demerits.

(View the full Canadian distracted driving news report.)

Calgary police chief Rick Hanson says his officers initially will enforce the distracted driving laws “with discretion”: “We’ll be communicating with media when we’re going to start enforcing it and I suspect the warnings will start right after (enactment), just to make people aware.”

Hanson says of the controversial report from the U.S. Highway Loss Data Institute showing distracted driving laws don’t work: “I can show you research that shows the Americans didn’t land on the moon in 1969, too.”

Enforcement of the law springing from Alberta’s Traffic Safety (Distracted Driving) Amendment Act has been put off again. MLA Ken Allred, St. Albert, unsuccessfully lobbied for the rules to take effect Jan. 1, 2011. “We’ve had enough discussion about it — education, if you want — over the last two years,” Allred said.

The province calls the new law “the most comprehensive distracted driving legislation in Canada.” Minister of Transportation Luke Ouellette said the law “is a bold approach and goes beyond restricting cell phones and deals with the broader issue of distracted driving.”

An Alberta Motor Association spokesman called the upcoming distracted driving law “a Christmas present for Albertans.” … A trade group for truckers who work in Alberta is seeking clarification on the rule regarding CB radios and mobile dispatching and routing terminals. Goverment officials reportedly admitted some aspects of the law affecting truckers were not thought through.

The fall debate over Bill 16 focused on whether hands-free phone use should be allowed at all. MLA Dave Taylor’s bid to amend the bill to remove that exemption failed. MLA Art Johnson, who introduced Bill 16, said the province should proceed without a total cell phone ban and revisit the issue: “We’ll be reviewing (hands-free) in the future and the way technology is evolving, this could change even next year.”

Alberta had been criticized by safety groups and some legislators for dragging its feet on distracted driving legislation. Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach said in December 2009 that he wanted to see the effects of texting bans in other provinces before acting. He cited a “busy agenda” as the reason it was not addressed that year. Calgary Police Chief Rick Hanson says distracted driving legislation is overdue.

In October 2010, Stelmach warned that license demerit points would be “the next step” if his government’s plan to stop distracted driving doesn’t work. The demerits would affect insurance premiums, although the current Bill 16 does not include those sanctions.

The Alberta Motor Association says its poll of province drivers indicated 75 percent were in favor of Bill 16, the distracted driving legislation to be debated in the fall. Almost 70 percent backed limits on the use of all cell phones, including hands-free.

The president of Canada’s Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons says the new Alberta law “is misguided. It’s dangerous and it’s going to kill more lives than it saves. (Legislators) should be ashamed of themselves.” Dr. Louis Francescutti says allowing cell phone use with hands-free devices gives drivers a false sense of security when in fact hands-free use is as dangerous as handheld cell phone use.

Strathcona County’s ban on texting and handheld cell phone use while driving began Sept. 1, 2009. The county bylaw was the first in Alberta. The activities are outlawed on country roads, not those policed by the province. Fines run from $100 to $200. The ban on text messaging and handheld cell phone use was approved in May. Alberta’s government is developing similar legislation. (Strathcona County is east of Edmonton, with a population of more than 80,000.)

Editorials, opinion:
Alberta: “For some reason — some suggest it’s fear of sliding further down the political popularity poll — the Stelmach government keeps dangling the carrot (of distracted driving laws), and then yanking it away. … Alberta … is set to become Canada’s traffic-safety donkey once again.” Michael Platt in the Calgary Sun (Jan. 19, 2010)

LaHood to critics: ‘We won’t be deterred’

Shrugging off his critics, DOT crusader Ray LaHood reaffirmed his passion for the fight against distracted driving.

In a Washington ceremony marking the first anniversary of FocusDriven’s founding, the Department of Transportation chief responded to recent public criticisms of his zeal from the former leader of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:

“We will not be deterred by false choices about addressing distracted driving on the one hand and alternative critical safety issues on the other,” LaHood told his audience.

Jeffrey Runge, the former highway safety official, told USA Today that “we shouldn’t be distracted by distraction,” and instead should address larger transportation safety issues. USA Today previously published articles disputing the benefits of distracted driving laws, based in part on controversial research by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

“Distracted driving is a deadly epidemic and when it comes to road safety, we will not take a back seat to anyone,” LaHood said at the Jan. 20 session.

FocusDriven president Jennifer Smith, a frequent speaker at LaHood’s gatherings, said, “The statistics show that it’s no longer ‘if’ someone you know will be affected by distracted driving, it’s ‘when.’” The group unveiled a new PSA, “5500 campaign,” which shows pictures of hundreds of victims of inattentive driving. “5500″ refers to the number of people killed in 2009 whose deaths were linked to distracted drivers.

LaHood took some credit for the wave of distracted driving legislation and laws sweeping the nation. “Because of our collective efforts, 30 states have outlawed texting behind the wheel, and eight states have banned handheld cell phone use for all drivers. He said more than than 270 distracted driving-related bills were considered nationwide in 2010.

A rep for Safeway grocery stores discussed the chain’s recent decision to prohibit its truck drivers from talking or texting on cell phones, or from using hands-free devices while driving. LaHood has pushed, with some success, for big business to adopt policies that should prevent distracted driving.

The Network of Employers for Traffic Safety presented results of its recent campaign promoting anti-distracted driving corporate policies. Of the 4,690 organizations that responded to the Drive Safely Work Week push, almost 90% plan to have a cell phone policy in place within the next year, NETS said.

The DOT also unveiled the latest in its “Faces of Distracted Driving” video series, focusing on a Nebraska teen killed by a texting driver.

FocusDriven video: Faces of the 5,500

On its first anniversary, the distracted driving victims advocacy group FocusDriven released this new 30-second PSA whose macro message is “How many more have to die?” It drives home the point that 5,500 people died last year due to inattentive driving.

FocusDriven president Jennifer Smith said: “In our new PSA, we want to remind people that each and every distracted driving fatality is someone’s loved one, and that person’s family is in tremendous pain.”

Keep up the good work, folks.

T-Mobile debuts teen driving nanny

T-Mobile has come to market with what it calls “the “industry’s first carrier-grade service” that puts the brakes on distracted driving by teens.

DriveSmart Plus is a full-featured subscription service that can be applied to all lines on a customer’s account. Priced at $4.99 a month, the system engages when a vehicle is in motion, sending incoming calls directly to voicemail and temporarily preventing access to text messages. People who call or text the phone user get an auto-response saying he or she is driving.

Other upper-tier distracted driving solutions have similar functionality — such as Taser’s new Protector system and the TeenSafer subscription service — but DriveSmart Plus comes with a wireless carrier’s branding, support and billing, an industry first. Although the app works only with the Optimus T smartphone (review), other brands and models are on the horizon, T-Mobile says.

The basic DriveSmart app already comes preloaded on that Andriod phone, but has no subscription requirement and must be manually engaged.

With the DriveSmart Plus app and service, parents can choose to get texts or emails when the distracted driving app’s emergency override is employed. Parents can monitor incoming calls and texts coming through the cell phone during the override via a website. Phone users who are passengers in a vehicle may use the override as well, with the same notifications.

The T-Mobile Optimus T goes for about $30 with phone service, making it popular with budget-limited teens.

“We continue to invest heavily in mobile personal safety services, for which we are seeing huge demand from consumers and families,” said Tasso Roumeliotis, CEO of Location Labs, which developed the DriveSmart apps.

T-Mobile USA vice president Torrie Dorrell said: “We feel strongly that with this freedom comes the responsibility to use their phones only when it is safe to do so.”

Bicycles, mopeds: Distracted driving news

Bikes and distracted driving: As laws restricting drivers’ use of cell phones and texting devices spread throughout the nation, legislators appear to be fine-tuning their bills to include bicyclists. This page tracks distracted driving legislation and laws affecting bicyclists and riders of other two-wheeled vehicles.

2011 law, legislation updates:
Bicyclists in Chicago are prohibited from using handheld cell phones and texting as of November. Alderman Marge Laurino’s plan sailed through the City Council on Oct. 5.

Laurino, a rider who describes herself as “proponent of cycling,” said the idea was to “level the field” with motorists, who are banned from texting and talking in city limits. Not surprisingly, the legislation was backed by the City Council’s Committee on Pedestrian and Traffic Safety — headed by Laurino.

Fines are $20 to $50 (first offense) up to $100 (third violation). They can hit $500 if an accident results. Bicyclists will be allowed to make cell phone calls if a hands-free device is used. Many bicyclists say a helmet law should have been a higher priority, a Northwestern University article says.

Highland Park’s ban on handheld cell phone use while driving went into effect June 1, 2011. Read more about the Chicago bicycle cell phone ban.

In Oregon, state Rep. Michael Schaufler has filed House Bill 2602, whose provisions include a ban on bicyclists’ use of “a listening device that is capable of receiving telephonic communication, radio broadcasts or recorded sounds.” Meaning smartphones, MP3 players, radios, CD players and the like. The fine for “unsafe operation of a bicycle” would be $90.

Schaufler told Willamette Week, “I think it makes sense not to have sound pumped into your ears while you’re riding a bicycle. You should have all your wits about you. Do you ride a bicycle with blinders on your eyes?”

Schaufler, D-Happy Valley, says he’s tired of reading bicyclists’ complaints about the bill: “People on bicycles ask for a whole lot and then they say, ‘don’t regulate us!’ ” A sampling of bicyclers’ online comments suggests that use of a single earbud is common — one ear for audio, another for safety. Also, “With any luck, the headphones bill is too silly and targeted to get out of committee.”

In Virginia, HB 1404 seeks to extend Virginia’s text messaging ban to bicycles, mopeds and “electric personal assistive mobility devices.” The law would make violations subject to primary enforcement, meaning police can halt a bicyclist for that reason alone. Rep. Algie Howell, D-Northfolk, is the sponsor. Howell’s texting legislation of 2008, 2009 and 2010 also targeted bicyclists and moped riders.

An Arkansas state senator dropped his plan to limit headphone use by bicyclists and pedestrians to one ear only, citing a barrage of citizen complaints. Sen. Jimmy Jeffress, D-Crossett, said Jan. 25, 2010, that he knew going in that the draft legislation wouldn’t succeed, but he wanted to raise the issue. He was inspired by a Little Rock accident.

In California, Sen. Joe Simitian partially backed down on his plan for distracted driving fines for bicyclists after a wave of complaints from riders. The 2010 legislation failed to become law but resurfaced in 2011 with the revised lower fines ($20/$50). There is no distracted driving law for bicyclists in California, but Simitian’s SB 28 could change that.

Distracted driving notes (bicycles):
In Montana, the city of Billings’ ban on text messaging and use of handheld cell phones while driving includes motorcycles and bicycles. Fines typically $110 but can be up to $300 (first offense) then up to $500.

Philadelphia’s ban on talking on handheld cell phones while driving extends to bicyclists, motorcyclists, skaters and skateboarders. It was enacted in May 2009. Fines of $150 to $300. Allentown followed suit in 2010 as its handheld cell phone ban extended to skateboarders, inline skaters and bicyclists. (Fines of $150 to $300.) And Wilkes-Barre checked in with fines of $75 for riding bicycles while talking on a phone or texting.

Our winner: Miss South Dakota

The reigning Miss South Dakota didn’t triumph at the Miss America Pageant, but she’s a queen on this blog.

Loren Vaillancourt lost her brother in a distracted driving accident. She made distracted driving her “cause” for the pageant, noting in the video below: “I want to be your next Miss America because I can save lives.”

Vaillancourt drew praise from DOT chief Ray La Hood, who blogged that she “has done a terrific job raising awareness among young people in South Dakota.” You can read posts of encouragement from her fans on this Facebook page from State Farm: SF Teen Driving.

(The new Miss America is Miss Nebraska Teresa Scanlan, whose platform was eating disorders.)

Meanwhile, belated congrats go out to Focus Driven’s Jennifer Smith, who was among the finalists for the 2010 Texan of the Year honor, organized by the Dallas Morning News. Smith has moved to Chicago, the paper said, but still considers herself a Texan.

Vaillancourt’s brother, Kelson, died in May 2009. He was a passenger in a vehicle that pulled out in front of a semi-truck near Huron on May 20. The driver also died. “No family should have to go through the pain my family has endured,” the beauty contestant said.

“Talking about my brother’s story over and over again has strengthened me,” Vaillancourt told the Argus Leader. “It’s given me an outlet and has opened doors for me that would normally not have been opened.”

Multimedia cars on parade at CES

This year’s CES confirmed that automakers are indeed quickening the pace toward making their vehicles hubs of electronic information and entertainment.

“Connected vehicle” systems and safe-driving technologies co-existed and co-mingled at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Toyota and Hyundai unveiled new wireless communications and data systems for their vehicles, while GM’s popular OnStar service announced it was expanding into other carmakers’ vehicles.

Ford rolled out its first electric car, with “wireless connected vehicle services” designed by partner Airbiquity.

“The car of the future is part of the mobile (electronics) world,” said Audi AG chairman Rupert Stadler. “And that is the future we are driving toward.”

Stadler used part of his CES keynote speech to talk up Audi’s multimedia interface platform, which delivers navigation, communications and entertainment.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has expressed concern over the spread of Internet-based wireless systems that could worsen the nation’s distracted driving problems. Carmakers respond that technology such as voice-recognition software actually makes for safer driving.

“There are many integration, compatibility and driver distraction issues that will need to be resolved, but we will start to see (more of) these technologies in cars in the very near future,” says Doug Newcomb, a senior editor at Edmunds.com who is covering CES.

Newcomb pointed to growth areas as in-car Internet; smartphone integration with dashboards; smartphone apps that extend the in-dash offerings to other locations; and more “telematic” services similar to GM’s OnStar navigation and information system.

OnStar plugged its upcoming app for Android smartphones that will read drivers’ incoming text messages, check for Facebook updates and allowing for voice-commanded responses. An iPhone version is expected after the Android app’s debut sometime this summer.

Toyota trumpeted its new “Etune” electronics system, also designed to import Internet content via smartphone apps. Content providers so far include Bing, OpenTable, MovieTickets.com and Pandora. “Bring the power of a decision engine to your car with Bing,” the carmaker urges.

Rollout for Etune begins in the later part of 2011. Toyota vehicle buyers get a free subscription to the service for three years.

Hyundai unveiled Blue Link (pictured), a budget telematics system about to go public on its Sonata model (sometime this spring) and Veloster (summer). Eventually it will be available on all vehicles, the South Korean carmaker said.

Hyundai’s Blue Link multi-tiered service includes auto-crash notification and consumer-friendly information such as restaurant reviews and gas prices. It will be more dependent on voice-triggered responses than live operators, and plans to undercut GM’s OnStar, which starts at about $300.

OnStar, meanwhile, said it would make its interactive services available in the consumer aftermarket, meaning owners of most vehicle makes and models can add the subscription product. Plans are to make the rear-view-mirror-based system available for the 20 best-selling vehicles in the U.S.

Pioneer Corp. was in town courting software developers with partner tech guidelines for its PAIS system (platform for the aggregation of Internet services), a voice-controlled device portal that can be used in vehicles.

Chrysler and technology parter Garmin (of GPS fame) were in town with their uConnect Touch navigation system, which recently expanded to numerous models. Garmin’s navigation can do tricks like speaking street names and answering the question “Where am I.”

Like Ford’s Touch Sync system, uConnect works via smartphone connectivity. It utilizes an 8.5-inch screen and has entertainment features from Panasonic. (In the small print, Chrysler says the system is not for use while the vehicle is in motion.)

On the safety-first side, a new consumer safety product from Iteris and Audiovox combines lane-changing and forward-collision warning systems.

Drivers are alerted when drifting into another lane or following too closely. The technologies have been available on some premium vehicles and trucks. The new system, which will cost about $600 installed, operates via a compact camera and onboard computer.

“We think driver safety is a major new growth opportunity for the auto aftermarket,” said Audiovox chief Tom Malone.

ZoomSafer, meanwhile, showcased “FleetSafer Vision,” which helps fleet owners monitor drivers’ wireless communications use.

FleetSafer Vision crunches data from the vehicle (location, speed, etc.) along with mobile wireless communications data (phone calls, text messages) and other information (weather, traffic, etc.) so fleet operators can “measure and remediate risky behavior and reinforce good behavior.”

ZoomSafer already markets software that prevents drivers from texting while driving, but it only works with smartphones. The new product hooks up telematics-equipped vehicles regardless of the phone used by the operator.

Another telematics outfit, Inthinc, copped a CES Innovations Design and Engineering Award for its teen driving safety system, tiwiFamily. It allows parents to monitor cell phone usage, speeding and other dangerous activities.

Taser, known for its law enforcement tools, was selling its “Protector” safe driving system, which locks down cell phones, texting and Internet use while a vehicle is moving. Parents can decide if hands-free cell phone use is allowed.

Last year’s CES sponsored a session called “Drivers, Consumer Electronics, and Highway Safety: How Can Technology Help?” focused on distracted driving. Input came from executives of Safe Driving Systems, Illume Software, ZoomSafer Inc., Tomahawk Systems, Marketing, Best Buy Mobile, TxtBlocker and Global Traffic Network.

Heather Hurd Memorial Highway set

A stretch of Florida’s U.S. 27 has been named in the memory of distracted driving victim Heather Hurd.

The Jan. 5 ceremony, in Polk County, was attended by the parents of Heather, a 26-year-old whose death was caused by a text-messaging truck driver in 2008.

Russell Hurd, who has been active in lobbying for distracted driving laws nationwide, urged Florida legislators to pass its version of Heather’s Law during 2011. “We will never hear my Heather’s magical giggle ever again,” the father said at the ceremony. “Everyone here today has a Heather in their life.”

Heather’s family is from Maryland, where a law banning texting while driving was approved last year. In 2010, Florida SB 244 was filed as “Heather’s Law.” The bill, sponsored by Sen. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami Gardens, died in committee.

The tractor-trailer driver was fined $1,400 for causing the wreck that killed Heather Hurd and another woman. (He has since died.) Florida motorists know the winding highway as “Bloody 27.”

A sign noting the designation was placed on the highway, near Davenport, and the family received a replica.

“Our lives have been changed forever. In place of joy and laughter, there is sorrow and tears,” Russell Hurd told the second national Distracted Driving Summit in September.

In 2010, Florida legislators continued to ignore or reject legislation seeking to rein in text messaging and cell phone use by drivers. New Florida Gov. Rick Scott does not appear to be supportive of a handheld cell phone ban.