The new boss at the National Transportation Safety Board is a fan of BlackBerries, but not of hypocrisy. After her ceremonial swearing in Tuesday, NTSB chairman Deborah Hersman announced a ban on text messaging and talking on cell phones for all staffers who are driving during work hours. The policy extends to texting and cell phoning on personal time if the driver is using a federally owned wireless device. Hersman, appointed to the post by President Obama, noted that "the risk of catastrophic consequences is too great." She noted her own addiction to her BlackBerry. The new policy … [Read more...]
Text messaging video sobering, stunning
September 6, 2009 by 1 Comment
The Utah texting tragedy that saw two scientists lose their lives has inspired a remarkable 15-minute documentary that should be seen by everyone who uses handheld portable electronic devices. The New York Times recently profiled the case of Reggie Shaw, a college student who was text messaging as he lost control of his SUV and killed the rocket scientists, who were on their way to work. Shaw received a month in jail and 100 hours of community service, an incredibly light sentence that inspired new Utah laws that could add up to 15 years in prison for a texting-related vehicular … [Read more...]
The unfriendly skies: Cell phones in flight
September 2, 2009 by Leave a Comment
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio doesn't like what he hears about the possibility of cell phones being legalized on airline flights. He's sponsoring the Halting Airplane Noise to Give Us Peace Act -- or HANG UP -- which would prohibit the FCC from allowing mobile phone use in the skies. DeFazio, D-Oregon, is no buttinski -- he's a member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. "After arriving hours early at the airport and often after waiting for a delayed, or even canceled, flight, what could make air travel worse?" he asks rhetorically in an opinion piece on cell phones on … [Read more...]
‘Toughest law’ on texting profiled
August 30, 2009 by Leave a Comment
The New York Times is featuring Utah's anti-text messaging law for motorists, in which violators face up to 15 years in prison if a fatality results from their distracted driving. The Times calls Utah text-messaging ban "the nation’s toughest law to crack down on texting behind the wheel." State Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan, says: “It’s a willful act. If you choose to drink and drive or if you choose to text and drive, you’re assuming the same risk.” The Times noted: Treating texting behind the wheel like drunken driving raises complex legal questions. Drunken drivers can be identified … [Read more...]
Lower Chichester talks tough on texting
August 19, 2009 by Leave a Comment
The blah blah blah over text messaging and driving gets pretty tiresome: How could any law possibly be enforced? What about my civil liberties? Yadda yadda. We've heard it all by now. Meet a lawmaker in Pennsylvania who is mad as hell about texting and is not going to take it anymore. The president of the township commission in Lower Chichester, Rocco Gaspari Jr., had this to say Monday after the body voted to ban text messaging for all drivers, effective immediately: “Text messaging now supersedes drugs and alcohol for causing the most accidents in the United States. Something needs to be … [Read more...]
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