What do Oprah, the US Secretary of Transportation, the Triple A, insurance companies and, state governors have in common?
The United States Transportation Department just presented a proposal to ban text messaging while driving by cross-state truck and bus drivers. This regulatory action follows up on Transportation Department call to lessen the number of distracted drivers that cause accidents.
The proposal would replace an interim ban announced in January by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. The planned ban applies to bus drivers and truck drivers operating vehicles with a gross vehicle weight over ten thousand pounds. As an indication of the scope of the issue, the drivers could face civil penalities and/or even criminal penalties.
The United States Transportation Department reports that 5,870 people were killed and about 515,000 were injured in 2008 in accidents 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 mirror the Transportation Department statistics with an estimate that about 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 issue. The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) states that driver inattention is a leading factor in many accidents, and cell phone use and texting 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 enacting a range of new laws, inclucing banning handheld cell phone use or texting by all drivers or restricting mobile phone use or sending text messages for a specific demographic, such as teens or school bus drivers. The GHSA reports that currently 20 states plus Washington DC ban drivers of all types of vehicles from texting when behind the wheel. Another nine states against texting by novice 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 neede. The Governors Highway Safety Association says it supports texting bans for all drivers, but does have concerns about enforcement.
A leading source of a potential 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 prohibition, and many corporations have explicit policies against sending text messages while behind the wheel. The government, industry and safety organizations all agree that distracted drivers caused bytexting is extremely dangerous, and deserves action. Advocates for addressing the problem also include media powerhouse Oprah.
The issue is emerging as a new phenomenon. As navigation systems, mobile phones and other mobile electronics have become ubiquitous in cars and trucks, safety advocates and the government have pushed for restrictions.
As regulations and technology develop to solve the problems a software package from Phone Beagle is available to help deal with monitoring phone use. PhoneBeagle is installed on Android and BlackBerry smartphones and monitors GPS location, and text messages along with other call log activity.
