What do Oprah, the Department of Transportation, the Auto Club, insurance companies and, state governors have in common?
The US Transportation Department just presented a proposal to ban text messaging while driving by interstate truck and bus drivers. This regulatory action follows up on its public service program to lessen the number of distractions that cause accidents.
The plan would make permanent the temporary ban announced earlier in the year by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. The planned ban applies to drivers of passenger buses and commercial trucks operating vehicles weighing more than ten thousand pounds. To give an idea of the serious nature of the problem, the drivers could be facing civil penalities and/or even criminal charges.
The United States Department of Transportation reported almost 6,000 people died and over a half million were injured in 2008 in crashes connected to distracted drivers. The department has not determined how many of those accidents were linked to an electronic device. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reflects the Transportation Department estimates with projection that around eighty percent of crashes are caused by driver distraction. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety is sponsoring research to determine the extent of the distracted driver problem. The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) states that driver inattention is a determining factor in many crashes, and cell phone use and texting are some of the most common driver distractions.
State legislatures have responded to the growing outrage regarding cell phone use and texting while driving by enacting a variety of new laws, inclucing banning handheld cell phone use or texting by all drivers or restricting cell phone use or sending text messages for a specific demographic, such as teens or school bus drivers. The GHSA reports that currently 20 states and Washington DC ban all drivers from texting when behind the wheel. Another nine states prohibiting texting by new drivers. The remaining states are expected to implement the ban before too long. But it is also believed that the laws are not enough to stop the problem and technology is required. The Governors Highway Safety Association says it supports texting bans for all drivers, but has doubts about enforcement.
One company with a monitoring solution is Phone Beagle. PhoneBeagle installs on Android and BlackBerry mobile phones and monitors GPS location, and text messages along with other phone log events.
The trucking and passenger bus trade associations support the text message ban, and many corporations have explicit policies against sending text messages while driving. The government, industry and safety organizations have found common ground that driver distraction caused bytexting is a menace to society, and is worthy of action. Advocates for dealing with the problem also include celebrity Oprah Winfrey.
The issue is a relatively new phenomenon. As navigation systems, cell phones and other mobile electronics have become ubiquitous in vehicles, safety advocates and the government have pushed for action to curb the problem.
As regulations and technology work to to address the issues a software package from Phone Beagle is available to help deal with monitoring phone use. Their software installs on Android and BlackBerry cell phones and monitors GPS location, and text messages along with other call log activity.
Tags: cell phones, distracted drivers, legislation, mobile, Oprah, Phone Beagle, regulations, text messaging