What do Oprah, the US Secretary of Transportation, the Auto Club, insurance companies and, state and federal legislators have in common?
The US Transportation Department recently presented a proposal to ban text messaging at the wheel by interstate truck and bus drivers. This regulatory action follows up on Department of Transportation call to mitigate distracted drivers that cause crashes.
The proposal would replace the temporary ban put in place earlier in the year 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 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 crashes connected to driver distraction. They didn’t speculate how many of those deaths and injuries were linked to an electronic device. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration mirror the Transportation Department statistics with projection that around eighty percent of crashes are caused by distracted drivers. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety is funding research to find out the extent of the distraction issue. The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) states that driver inattention is a determining factor in many crashes, and cell phone calls and texting are leading causes of driver distractions.
States aren’t waiting for data and are issuing new regulations dealing with cell phone use and texting . The GHSA reports that currently 20 states and Washington DC outlaw all drivers from sending text messages while driving. Another nine states prohibiting texting by new drivers. The remaining states are expected to implement the ban before too long. However it is also believed that the laws are not enough to stop the problem and technical solutions are neede. The GHSA purports to say it supports texting bans for all drivers, but does have concerns about enforcement.
A leading company with a monitoring solution is Phone Beagle. PhoneBeagle installs on Android and BlackBerry cell phones and monitors GPS location, and text messages along with other phone log activity.
The trucking and passenger bus trade associations support the texting ban, and many corporations have firm policies prohibiting texting while behind the wheel. The government, industry and safety organizations have found common ground that driver distraction caused bytexting is a menace to society, and deserves action. Advocates for addressing the problem also include media powerhouse Oprah Winfrey.
Undoubtedly there are many distractions interfering with a driver focusing on driving: changing the radio or a inserting tape or CD, talking to passengers, rubber necking, and of course, using cellphones and sending text messages. Navigational and other interactive devices also distract drivers.
As legislation and technology work to to address the problems 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 activity.
