What do Oprah, the US Secretary of Transportation, the Triple A, insurance companies and, state and federal legislators have in common?
The United States Transportation Department recently proposed to outlaw text messaging at the wheel by cross-state truck and bus drivers. This regulatory action follows up on Transportation Department public service program to lessen the number of distractions that lead to crashes.
The proposal would make permanent an interim ban put in place in January by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. The planned ban applies to drivers of passenger buses and commercial trucks operating vehicles with a gross vehicle weight over five tons. As an indication of the scope of the issue, violators could be facing civil penalities and/or even criminal penalties.
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 deaths and injuries involved mobile phone. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reflects the Transportation Department statistics with projection that around eighty percent of crashes are caused by distracted drivers. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety is sponsoring research to determine the extent of the distraction issue. The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) states that driver inattention is a determining factor in many crashes, and mobile phone calls and sending text messages are leading causes of driver distractions.
State legislatures have reacted to the growing outrage regarding cell phone use and sending text messages while driving by issuing a variety of new laws, inclucing banning handheld cell phone use or texting by all drivers or restricting mobile phone use or texting for a specific demographic, such as teens or school bus drivers. The Governors Highway Safety Association reports that twenty states and Washington DC outlaw drivers of all types of vehicles from sending text messages when behind the wheel. Another nine states restricting texting by beginning drivers. The remaining states are expected to implement the ban before too long. But it is also widely recognized that the laws are not enough to stop the problem and technology is required. The GHSA purports to say it supports texting bans for all drivers, but does have concerns about enforcement.
One company with a monitoring solution is Phone Beagle. PhoneBeagle installs on Android and BlackBerry smartphones and monitors GPS location, and text messages along with other call log events.
The trucking and passenger bus industries support the texting ban, and many companies have explicit policies restricting sending text messages while driving. The government, industry and safety organizations have found common ground that distracted drivers caused bysending text messages is extremely dangerous, and deserves action. Advocates for dealing with the problem also include celebrity Oprah Winfrey.
The issue is a relatively new phenomenon. As navigation systems, mobile phones and other mobile electronics have become common in cars and trucks, safety advocates and the government have pushed for action to curb the problem.
As legislation 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 is installed on Android and BlackBerry cell phones and monitors GPS location, and text messages along with other call log events.
Tags: cell phones, distracted drivers, legislation, mobile, Oprah, Phone Beagle, regulations, text messaging