Iowa became the 21st state to ban text messaging while driving as Gov. Chet Culver signed the plan into law. The state's public safety commissioner then presented the governor with a coffee mug that said: "Don't Drive Intexticated." "We want to be the very best state in America when it comes to safe roads," Culver said -- although the Iowa texting ban was watered down to secondary-enforcement status as it made its way through the Legislature. (The measure was a compromise by the House and Senate.) The law's additional ban on use of all handheld electronic devices by teen drivers with … [Read more...]
DOT seeks full trucking & texting ban
April 1, 2010 by Leave a Comment
The nation's interim ban on text messaging by truckers is on the road to becoming permanent. The U.S. Department of Transportation announced Wednesday that it had officially proposed the rule and was entering a 30-day comment period. "We get that the trucking biz is hard," DOT chief Ray LaHood tweeted after the announcement. "We're just trying to save lives." The rule applies to interstate truckers and bus drivers whose vehicles weigh more than 10,000 pounds. Violators would face fines and possible disqualification from commercial trucking. The interim ban was based on interpretation of … [Read more...]
Far from distracted in Southern California
March 28, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Out here in Calfornia, it's hard to remember how it was. Back in the bad old days, before the state banned the use of handheld cell phones while driving. Sure you see the occasional fool holding a mobile phone to his ear, but for the most part people here have accepted that phone calls can wait until the drive's over. Too bad we can't quantify the quite apparent but subjective truth that the freeways are better and safer with the cell phone and text messaging bans. It was gratifying, then, to read this bit of confirmation in a letter to the editor of the Baltimore Sun: I just returned from … [Read more...]
NSC looks inside ‘distracted brain’
March 28, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Drivers talking on cell phones often enter a state of "inattention blindness" in which they fail to see up to 50 percent of what's ahead of them, according to a new report from the National Safety Council. The NSC once again makes the case against driving and using cell phones -- including those with hands-free devices -- this time backed by about 30 research studies. The NSC estimates that 25 percent of the U.S. crashes in 2008 involved cell phone use. "Driver distractions have joined alcohol and speeding as leading factors in fatal and serious injury crashes," the NSC said. The white … [Read more...]
Wyoming to round up texting drivers
March 13, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Wyoming became the 20th state to ban text messaging while driving, as its governor signed legislation that will go into effect on July 1. The anti-texting legislation (Senate File 20), was sponsored by Sen. Floyd Esquibel, D-Cheyenne, who has authored multiple distracted driving bills in the past. The law calls for primary enforcement (police can stop and cite violators when spotted) with fines of $75. Esquibel noted that his newly minted law does apply to all drivers, it is mostly aimed at the young generation that's hooked on texting. It's “primarily for an age group that is already at … [Read more...]
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